Fire destroys barn at Moncton-area farm early Sunday

Sunden Farms in Lower Coverdale, N.B., is facing a significant loss after one of itsbarns burned down early Sunday.

Riverview Deputy Fire Chief John Malloy said a call came in around 1:51 a.m. Sunday that a barn was on fire on Route 114 about 10 kilometres south of Moncton.

Malloy said the fire soon engulfed the whole building.

"Once the fire tore off through the building, basically we had to go into a defensive mode fighting it from the outside," he said.

"Basically, then the roof collapsed down in on top of everything, so it basically insulates everything down underneath the metal roofing, so all the wooden stuff underneath there still has a burn going."

Firefighters remained on scene Sunday morning to monitor hot spots. Heavy equipment was due to arrive to pull the metal roof off the rubble.

"Basically the barn's a total loss at this point," Malloy said.

Sunden Farms owner Jonathan Howe said "it's always a shock when something like this happens."

"But we look at the positives," he said, "and try to move forward and continue to grow."

Malloy said there were 28 firefighters on scene from Riverview, Moncton, Dieppe, Hillsborough and Salisbury at the height of the fire. No injuries have been reported.

Howe said he estimates 40 per cent of the farm's production capacity will be lost due to the fire, but is thankful that no other buildings on the property were impacted.

"The community and our customers have been quite supportive," he said. "They've passed on their condolences and hope that we can push through this and grow more products and continue to serve the community."

The barn that burned down was used to grow leafy greens used for lettuce mixes that the farm sells to 14 independent grocery stores, about 30 restaurants and customers via home delivery, Malloy said.

The barn that was lost produced roughly 225 kilogramsof produce a week.

"We hope to rebuild and continue to expand," Malloy said.