Karl Puckett

kpuckett@greatfallstribune.com

A fire in a barn at the Milford Hutterite Colony south of Augusta on Monday evening killed 3,100 pigs being raised for market, a loss in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We’re pretty shook up,” Ben Wipf, secretary of the colony, said Tuesday.

The fire in the 300-by-90-foot barn was reported at 5:45 p.m. Monday, said Brad McBratney, a member of the Augusta Volunteer Fire Department, which dispatched eight trucks.

“When we got there, there were flames showing and the whole building was involved,” McBratney said.

An estimated 3,100 feeder pigs were lost in the fire, Wipf said.

A feeder pig is growing to maturity for slaughter with the meat turned into pork chops and bacon, said John Rauser of Totson, president of the Montana Pork Producers Council.

The weight of feeder-to-finisher pigs ranges from 50 to 280 pounds, and the value of those close to slaughter can range from $120 to $155 a head, depending on the contract, Rauser said. Using those figures, the colony’s loss would range from $372,000 to $480,000.

“That’s just the livestock itself,” Rauser said. “That’s not counting the building.”

Barn fire destroys 400 tons of hay at Hutterite colony

Wipf said Tuesday the colony was waiting to hear from its insurance company on an estimate of the loss.

By the time colony members and firefighters arrived, it was too late to save most of the pigs, Wipf said.

“It was a very hot fire,” said Leo Dutton, sheriff of Lewis and Clark County.

About a half dozen pigs survived the fire and were wandering around outside, McBratney said.

“Someone said they were in a loading shoot and they were able to get those out,” he said. “But everything else perished inside.”

Once firefighters arrived, they went to work to save a similar-sized barn that was right next door and connected to the barn that was burning and were successful, McBratney said. It was his understanding that pigs also were in the barn that was saved.

“They did a wonderful job,” Wipf said.

Firefighters remained on the scene until 11 p.m. Monday. They were called back Tuesday morning when the fire flared again.

The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office and state fire marshal are investigating the cause.

“The investigation revealed there is nothing suspicious,” Dutton said.

Colony members did report that power to the colony had fluctuated in the past couple of days, Dutton said.

The Milford Colony is located off of U.S. Highway 287.

“Now the cleanup operations begin,” Dutton said.

Follow Karl Puckett on Twitter @GFTrib_KPuckett.