Barn fire kills 70 cows in southwestern Ontario

BROCKTON, Ont. – Another fire in southwestern Ontario has killed dozens of cattle.

Police say a large fire tore through a barn in Brockton around 9 p.m. Wednesday that destroyed 50 cows and 20 calves, with damage estimated at $500,000.

Ontario Provincial Police say the cause of the fire is undetermined, but doesn’t appear to be suspicious.

There has been a spate of barn fires in Ontario this winter. About 90 cows died in early February in Elgin County in southwestern Ontario.

Before that more than 2,000 pigs died in mid-January in a barn fire north of London, Ont., while fires earlier in the month at two barns in the Guelph, Ont. area killed more than 50 horses, including 43 racehorses.

About 500 goats and 30 cows were also killed in a barn fire in mid-January. And a barn full of chickens died after a fire ripped through a farm in Listowel, Ont.