'Looks like a bomb went off:' Sask. farmer loses home to wildfire

Allen Job remembers he was about 20 minutes from home when he received a call from his firefighter son, telling him to return to the farm.

He was warned thatshifting windsthreatened to spread wildfire onto the property, located roughly five kilometres outside of Burstall, Sask.

"There was so much smoke we couldn'tsee where the fire was until we hit the ditch and drove into the fire and got the truck out of ditch and back onto the road and finally made it through all the smoke and the fire and back to the farm," Job said

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He said they managed to pull out a few vehicles,but were unable to grab anything from the family house before it burned down.

After 36 years, the basement is all that's left.

"Looks like a bomb went off and just destroyed everything. How's it make me feel? Sometimes you feel like, well maybe somebody's worse off than you are, so it isn't so bad when you think that way," said Job.

Peacocks killed, cats missing

Allen said a shop remains standing and some machinery has been spared.

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He said some crops were also destroyed, as was a grain bin that was partially full.

Allen said some peacocks were killed andfour cats are still missing.

"We put some food out and hopefully they come back or maybe they won't."

Allen said they plan to rebuild and are working with an insurer to figure out the next steps. For now, they have been put up in Medicine Hat, Alta.

As of Thursday, he said firefighters around Burstall, Sask., were still extinguishing hot spots.

'Well, I guess what we gotta do is one thing at a time."