Blaze destroys barn, aircraft parts near Alida, Sask.
Flames leap up from an Alida-area barn destroyed by a fire last weekend. (Photo: Kelly Schulhauser).Photograph by: Photo submitted by Kelly Schulhauser , handoutA spectacular fire destroyed a large, hip-roof barn and the adjacent barnyard in which the parts from more than a dozen vintage airplanes,were stored, witnesses say.
The barn belonged to the Basil Fraser family in the Alida area of southeast Saskatchewan.
The fire was reported to the Alida Volunteer Fire Department on the weekend.
"I don't know for sure how the fire started," said Jaye Lemieux, Alida's fire chief. "When we got there, the barn was totally engulfed by fire.
The old barn contained 17 vintage aircraft including a World War II bomber and a lot of aircraft parts that had been collected over the years.
"The bomber had magnesium wheels and they were burning. This was very dangerous because when the water hit the burning magnesium the whole thing just exploded. We were lucky no one was hurt."
"It is a terrible loss," said Joyce Fraser, a family member. "The farmyard won't be the same without the barn."
Nadine Fraser said many of the planes were being used for parts.
"Many of the planes were old World War II planes that were in disrepair. My husband,Terry and his friends collected these from the area years ago (1960'70s). People from museums would come and get parts from them to try and fix other planes they were restoring. But still they were interesting to look at and were important to them."
Nadine said one of the neighbors found the skin from a firecracker in the tall grass in the yard where the fire begun.
"The neighbor gave the cover from the firecracker to one of the firefighters," said Nadine. "It is just so dry any little spark can cause a fire." Also lost in the fire was a pioneer farmhouse.
"It wasn't a sod house, but it would have been the next house after the sod house. It would have been at least 100 years old. It was just a small A-frame structured building," Nadine said.
She said other fires have occurred in the farm neighbourhood, causing concern for area residents. "Someone set the old pioneer house on fire at the farm next door on the August long weekend."
The Alida Fire Department is continuing its investigation into the cause of the weekend fire. It fought another grassfire earlier Saturday at another location.
Fire bans have been issued in area municipalities due to the dry conditions.
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