Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Barn fire suspected to be sparked by human waste

June 2, 2008
By TARA HAGAN

The Observer


A barn fire suspected to be sparked by piled human waste, had Sarnia Fire Rescue Services working round the clock over the weekend.

Platoon Chief Brian Crowe said crews first responded to a call at around 9 p.m. Saturday, where a portion of human sludge stored in the barn was smoldering.

Shad Kember, who lives next door to the property, said his wife Anne called the fire department after the couples son who lives down the road noticed smoke coming from the barn near their Confederation Line home.

He called us up and said there was a fire in the barn, said Kember. So we called the fire department in; but there was no real big fire, it was just kind of smoldering.

At that time, Kember got in his loader and began removing the smoking sludge.

He was digging it out, and thought that he got it all, said Crowe. The officer in charge left it with him to monitor it; there was no actual fire at that time.

But Kember says it was the fire department who should have better monitored the incident.

I thought theyd have someone there to keep an eye on it, he said.


Crowe said the waste was piled at least 10 feet high.

Hours later, at about 3 a.m., Kembers wife said she woke up to see the barn, which is about 500 feet from their home, engulfed in flames.

The flames were 40 or 50 feet high, she said. So we called the fire department and they were right back out here. There was a huge cloud of smoke we knew she was a goner.

Crowe said the fire was totally involved, when crews arrived.

The Kembers said they watched fire crews work through the night to battle the blaze, which left the 25-year-old, 900 by 60-foot barn completely demolished.

Fire crews, along with the Ministry of Environment, were on site, Sunday.

Kember, who used to run Kembers Topsoil and Turkeys at the property, sold it two years ago to Guelph-based LEL Farms.

Currently, the site is rented to Mark Lumley of Fairwind Farms, who declined to comment.

Kember said the human waste, which was being stored for use as fertilizer, was a likely cause, because of its flammability.

He said about 15 semi-loads of the waste, brought in from Windsor, were being stored there.

Its flammable stuff when it gets wet, said Kember, who thought something may have been wrong earlier that day.

I went outside and smelled something aweful, and I didnt know what it was, he said.

Damage estimates and the actual cause, were not confirmed at press time.

No one was injured in the fire.