The owner of an alpaca farm south of Calgary is devastated after a deadly fire that killed eight of her animals and her beloved dog.
It happened late Wednesday evening at Prairie Spirit Alpacas in Millarville, when a structure fire tore through the property.
All that remained Friday morning was a large pile of rubble, including pieces of a barn scattered throughout the property that were still smouldering 48 hours after the fire started.
Firefighters remained on the property, monitoring the situation and extinguishing the hotspots.
The first fire started about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, just hours before "Prairie Spirit Alpacas was set to receive 500 fresh bales of hay.
The owner, Carmen Jadick, said the bales were wet and worried that may have caused them to heat up faster.
It's been a devastating experience that comes at a time when the animals are in desperate need of shelter with temperatures beginning to drop.
Sadly, several alpacas were inside the barn as the flames spread. killing eight of them alongside Jadick's livestock guardian dog Sophie.
"She was such a good dog," Jadick said "I had her sleeping in the barn at night because her hips are bad and she used to get cold and so she was in the barn but she was locked in and I just couldn't go there. The flames were just atrocious, I wanted to go in but I knew I would catch on fire if I did so I didn't so she burned to death alive."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and an exact investigation estimate isn't known.
A GoFundMe has been set up to cover costs.
For more information, visit the CTV Calgary website.
