Barn on Fire!

Its now more than 150 years since the Great Chicago Fire which according to popular legend broke out after Catherine OLearys infamous milking cow kicked over a lantern in the barn on the night of October 8 1871. The resulting barn fire aided by the wind destroyed three square miles of the City of Chicago killing approximately 300 people destroying 18000 buildings and leaving 100000 people a third of the citys population homeless before it was finally brought under control the next day. 
The Great Chicago Fire changed the way public officials and firefighters viewed fire safety. Now fire departments everywhere educate the public about the importance of fire prevention and safety.

Fire is an everpresent concern for barn owners. Farm fires pose a unique threat because farms tend to be isolated and without access to large quantities of water and theyre located in rural areas without easy access to the services of the wellequipped fire departments of urban areas. And because barns and their contents are typically highly flammable fires in these buildings can quickly burn out of control. According to the Farm Food Care Ontario website it takes only three to four minutes of the fire starting for the barn to be completely filled with smoke and a barn will be completely engulfed in less than six minutes. 
Most barn fires go undetected until flames are visible because they usually occur at night or during the early morning hours and the buildings rarely have smoke detectors or sprinkler systems. Smoke detectors save lives because smoke is produced in the earliest stages of fire development. Once flames are present the fire has become dangerous and unpredictable.
First responders to barn fires face serious challenges including lack of familiarity with the barn design or not knowing how to handle the animals involved.