Photo: File photo

Armstrong-Spallumcheen volunteer firefighters had an exhausting day Tuesday, battling two significant fires in a matter hours.

Fire Chief Rob Brown said crews were called to a barn fire on Round Prairie Road at 3:30 a.m.

Brown said the animals inside the barn, that included horses, escaped the flames unharmed.

“The barn is a total loss,” Brown said, adding there were no injuries. “We had 22 members out there.”

Crews were on scene for approximately four hours.

A nearby barn was “an exposure risk” from the fire, but Brown said the contained the fire to the one barn.

Mills Vet in Armstrong is collecting items for the family impacted by the fire.

“One of our wonderful clients suffered a devastating loss last night when their barn tragically burned down. By some miracle, they woke during the night and were able to get their horses out just in time. However, everything else was lost,” Mills said on its Facebook page.

These are the kind of people who always give but never ask — so on their behalf, we are reaching out to our incredible horse community for support.

“As horse people, we all know how much we tend to collect over the years — if you have any extras, big or small, they would be deeply appreciated as they navigate this incredibly stressful time.”

Once the barn fire was extinguished, the day was far from over for the volunteers as another structure fire was reported in Spallumcheen around noon Tuesday.

“It was a shop fire that was fully involved when we showed up and it extended into the house,” Brown said, adding crews were on scene for more than four hours.

The home received significant damage on the blaze.

The cold weather also presented some challenges for crews.

“The respirators give us problems when it is cold like that,” Brown said.

Ice can also form on other vital pieces of equipment, presenting additional hazards for crews.

The cause of both fires in under investigation.