The Manitoba Farm Safety Program is confident a new infrared barn inspection service it’s offering will help farmers uncover problems that could lead to barn fires before they occur.
In response to a hog barn fire in New Bothwell this past summer the Manitoba Farm Safety Program has acquired infrared photographic equipment and is offering to have staff conduct barn assessments to detect hot spots that could result in fire.
Renee Simcoe, the Manitoba Farm Safety Program’s Communications Coordinator, says any farmer in Manitoba is invited to request a free inspection but, right now because of the recent hog barn fire, hog barns are being given the top priority.
The most common cause for these barn fires tends to occur with electrical issues. What this technology will do is, it’s a two dimensional image and basically what it does is it will show heat variations. It’s not always electrical, there are issues.
Our website actually does a very good job of laying out a couple of the major causes for fires in barns. It’s manitobafarmsafety.ca/infrared-inspections. There’s some very good detail there but essentially what it does is it will detect heat variations. It can also detect if there’s air escaping or if a barn needs to be insulated better or areas where it may need more insulation. That’s always a concern too is keeping the correct temperature in a barn especially when there’s livestock involved so it’s good for farmers to know to know if there’s heat escaping from their barn as well.
~ Renee Simcoe, Manitoba Farm Safety Program
Simcoe stresses any information, any data collected through these inspections is kept strictly confidential and is shared only with the manager, owner or designated person who accompanies Manitoba Farm Safety Program staff who conduct the inspection.
