MAKING ‘HEADLIGHT’ HEADLINES IN…
1990
A look at interesting copy that grabbed our attention “back in the day.”
140 pigs perish, 150 saved
An estimated 140 pigs were killed in an electrical fire that devoured a barn at at the Brian and Sheila Lavoie farm of rural Tracy Tuesday morning.
Upon arriving on the scene at about 9:45 a.m., Tracy firemen found flames licking thru the barn’s roof. Nothing could be done to save the 24x36-foot two-story barn. Fire-fighting efforts centered on controlling the blaze and preventing its spread.
Killed in the configration were 11 trapped inside the barn. About five sows and a few little pigs did make it to safely, Brian Lavoie reported.
Early detection of the fire did save 60 ewes and 80-90 lambs that were in a lean-to adjacent to the barn.
“Thank God the dog barked,” explained Sheila Lavoie, who was in the house at the time of the fire. At first she thought the dog’s barking meant someone was driving into the yard. Then she saw the smoke.
She said the fire got established so rapidly, it was impossible to get more of the hogs out.
Also lost in the fire were about 50 bales of hay in the loft. Firemen were able to keep flames from spreading to two nearby silos and a metal shed where more hogs were being kept.
The Lavoie farm is located about 3 1/2 miles southeast of Tracy.
