The Rural Voice, 1981-07, Page 9The
barn
fire
It took this Bruce
farm family seven
years to recover
BY GISELE IRELAND
In September of 1967 Bob and Agnes Bregman of Teeswater
were returning home from a two-day trip to Expo. They had
managed to squeeze in this treat before the corn harvest. The
road leading to the Bregman farm is winding and picturesque,
through hills and valleys. Winding their way over these hills they
joked with each other as to whether the place would still be there
when they got home.
It wasn't.
Two days before they had been victims of what most farmers
have nightmares about: an unexplained barn fire. The Bregmans
still remember vividly. after all these years. the profound sense
of shock they experienced as they viewed the destruction before
them as they drove in the lane. By sheer luck they had hired two
Dutch nurses. looking for work in Canada. to take care of their
children, Robert, Keith, Joanne and Christine, then aged from
two to eleven. These ladies had only been in Canada four weeks.
and spoke very little English. When the fire broke out they ran
helplessly to the road yelling "Fire" in Dutch. Why the fire
started is still a mystery, a common phenomenon in barn fires.
The fire destroyed the season's crop, plus 12 headof
replacement stock. The 35 -cow milking herd had been moved to
a neighbour's farm for milking until the Bergmans got home.
Now Bob and Agnes were faced with making decisions that
would affect them the rest of their farming career. They rented a
barn four miles away from home for the milking. The production
of their dairy herd dropped to one-third the amount before the
fire, but bills remained the same and it was only because of great
care that the meagre milk cheque covered the various bills.
They considered all possibilities before coming to a decision.
The insurance would not cover rebuilding costs and they thought
of selling the farm and re -locating. but they found that farms set
up to suit their requirements were not within their price range.
The Bregmans considered cash cropping but the existing
mortgages were too hefty to choose this avenue. They had
bought a second farm just a year before the fire. The rebuilding
began and they prayed that it would prove financially feasible.
Bob and Agnes still say that the donated crops from
neighbours and help in the form of cash from friends and
community made the next year bearable. The benefit dance held
for them also brought in much needed and gratefully appreciated
revenue.
By the beginning of 1968 the cows came home to their new
barn and the rebuilding of the Bregman's financial resources
began in earnest. They found themselves with seven per cent
The Bregman farm. showing the new barn built after
the fire.
equity after all was done and the future looked frightening.
Bob and Agnes both agree the turning point in their farming
career was in 1974. They found to their relief an easing of the
financial pressures which had been plaguing them for the
previous seven years. They sold their second farm to consolidate
their outstanding debts and bought an ARDA farm.
Bob still remembers a comment made by a neighbour shortly
after the fire: "You will find this fire a blessing in disguise
because you will be able to modernize and increase efficiency."
Agnes is skeptical as to whether seven years of severe financial
pressures and just plain hard work could be termed a
"blessing."
The Bregman farm is today a viable family concern. The
children are productive young people and farm with Bob and
Agnes. Neither regrets the decision to rebuild their dairy
enterprise. The reason it is now a success is due largely to
tenacity, an unwillingness to give up and the family's joint effort
to build up again what had been destroyed. It's a success that ws
built on the ashes of every farmer's nightmare..."A Barn Fire".
The Bregman barn which burned in J967
THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1981 PG 7