The long road to recovery after a fire

Friday, December 5, 2014

How to dispose of dead animals was just among the first of the things that Ralph Coneybeare had to deal with after his dairy barn caught fire. Then there was the decision about whether – and how – to rebuild, and all the dealings with his bank and insurer

by MARY BAXTER

Ralph Coneybeare, who farms near Listowel in Perth County, received the news that his dairy barn was on fire at 12:30 a.m. on April 28, 2010, from a tenant of another farm. By the time he arrived at the farm – he lives down the road on another farm – flames sparked by an electrical problem were shooting through the roof. For farm operations, especially those with livestock, fire is a major risk. Indeed, from 2004 to 2007, data from the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office shows losses due to fire in farm buildings jumped from $30.1 million to $57.6 million.

In Coneybeare's case, 125 animals would die from the fire or would have to be put down because of fire-related injury. But no people were injured. "I am thankful for that," he says.

The dairy fire continued well into the next day and he spent a sleepless 24 hours monitoring it, dealing with the firefighters and police and the insurance adjusters who arrived at 8 a.m. in the morning. But, as Coneybeare would discover, the long road to recovery had only just begun.

In the early days, he faced many tough situations, such as how best to dispose of the animals that had died. "There was some discussion between the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the federal jurisdiction," he recalls. "They wanted to take the cattle to Kingston or some ridiculous place to be disposed of." But, in the end, a location not far from the barn was found.

He obtained permission from Dairy Farmers of Ontario to house heifers that had been calving at another barn, in milking barns owned by neighbours and relatives, and he set a target of returning to operation within a year.

"Probably within the week, I had a construction site trailer on site on that farm," he says. The trailer meant that he could separate work from home life and better manage the steady stream of salesmen. The trailer also proved handy for those who worked on building the new barn.

Before the fire, Coneybeare barely knew how to use a computer. "I did become more computer literate very quickly and so that gave me some options where you can look at stuff all over the world." He also toured barns from Ontario to British Columbia to obtain design ideas.

A former general contractor, Coneybeare ended up not only designing his barn but also becoming his own general contractor. That meant he was liable to ensure the job was done right. He welcomed the responsibility, recognizing that ultimately, the building was going to be his anyway. "I would never recommend that farmers go and just say to a company 'build me a two-robot barn and then walk away' because you won't have your own personal feelings into it and it'll almost guarantee it will be a disaster."

Many people questioned his decision to rebuild. But, he says, "I'm a dairy man through and through," adding that other factors also informed his decision.

For instance, some of the facility had remained – a silo and heifer barn still functioned. And if the venture didn't work out, the facility was located on a 200-acre parcel of land, so he'd easily be able to sell the package while retaining other acreage and the broiler business. "Ongoing operations are not that hard to sell," he observes. "So that was kind of the reasoning behind it. It made more sense to use the quota than to sell it."

He made a conscious decision to look ahead and counts that as a key contributor to his operation's recovery. "If you're not looking forward, you're maybe looking backward and that's not a good thing after something like that," he says.

He also credits careful insurance planning that had taken place long before the fire broke out for contributing to his recovery.

After he bought his brother out in 2006, Coneybeare had made a decision to obtain full insurance coverage. "I was running pretty tight margins and a fairly high debt load," he explains. If he didn't have full insurance coverage and ran into problems, "I could be in trouble."

The plan he had obtained covered the cost of rebuilding the barn, as well as the value of the lost cows and income. After the fire, there were many challenges, but dealing with his insurer was not one of them, he says.

Your insurance company is your ally, he says, but he warns that working out the details often involves negotiation. "A lot of that stuff is not written in stone." Stand up for yourself, he advises, but don't lose your cool. "Take a breath, sit back, think about it and maybe talk to some people – friends that have had some dealings with this kind of thing." If there is a divergence of opinion on compensation, obtain a second opinion, he recommends.

Coneybeare says he kept his insurer and his banker informed all through the recovery and rebuild period. "We worked together really well," he says. "Don't try to keep any secrets from them. They didn't want my farm; they wanted to work with me to make it bigger and better."

After all was said and done, his loss was in the millions. Nevertheless, a year later he swung into partial production. His barn was the first in the country to introduce LED lighting, he says. He has introduced two robot milkers and a retractable barrier he invented to prevent cows from pushing their feed out of reach. Today, the operation milks 110 cows.

Some people might say that a disaster is the best thing that happened for their operation. "I don't know whether I'll ever be able to say that," counters Coneybeare. "I've had lots of good things happen to me in my life and that was not high on the list." BF

Working with your insurer
Pete Karageorgos, director of consumer and industry relations for Ontario for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, advises farmers to ensure they have the right amount of protection. He notes that it's important to notify the insurance company when improvements or upgrades are made to a property so that the level of insurance can be adjusted.

If a claim is filed, he recommends documenting what the loss and damage was and that means having an inventory of property that is insured. He advises working with an adjustor before disaster strikes so that, if it ever happens, it makes the claim filing process smoother. BF

New building materials, new risks
David McLaughlin, risk assessment supervisor for Grenville Mutual Insurance Company, which serves the southeastern Ontario region, says that lighter weight materials, such as particle or oriented-strand press boards and plastics, are being increasingly used in barn construction. The materials can have a very different tolerance to heat, he notes, and their use "has certainly been a concern for fire services in new residential areas where the homes are built close together."

Burk Black, general manager of sales for Agway Metals Inc., an Ontario manufacturer that makes farm building cladding, says demand for plastic interior cladding for walls and roofs in barns has grown over the past three years. For livestock producers who must meet certain food safety standards, the materials are easier to clean and do not rust the way steel might.

The plastic products his company distributes all have fire and flame spread ratings, he says. "I'm sure they're well within the requirements of the building code."

Steven Adema, director of engineering for Tacoma Engineers Inc. in Guelph, notes that wood-based materials are already regulated in provincial and federal building codes, and their use in barns is not new. The plastic products "are certainly newer," he says.

He notes that flame spread ratings are addressed in the Ontario Building Code, which sets limits on the flammability level of building products, "whereas that's not really clear in the National Farm Building Code," which leads to the potential of uncertainty about their use. BF