Huracan

Segment
Coupe

It is every car collector's worst nightmare, and it's become a reality for this guy. Alberta, Canada resident Bert Curtiss is experiencing heartbreak this very moment because his collection consisting of antiques cars, trucks and tractors has been completely destroyed in a barn fire. Oh, and none of it was insured. Calgary's CTV News first picked up on this story following the fire and all Curtiss's words are equally heartbreaking: "it is what it is. I guess I've lost 45 years of work."

All of those vehicles were stored in a 27,000 square foot dairy barn outside of Olds, a town in the province of Alberta. Last Thursday afternoon the entire barn went up in flames. "This was actually a museum quality 1927 international truck," said Curtiss when describing some of the wreckage he was walking through. "The cab was mostly made out of wood on those old trucks so there's nothing left of it. Some of these cars I've had for 40 years. (I've spent) hundreds of thousands of hours working on them." There were so many vehicles parked in that old barn, in fact, that Curtiss claims he actually lost count of the precise contents. His best estimate is that there were more than 40 classic cars and another 40 antique tractors parked inside.

Lacking any insurance only makes a tragic situation all the more so. Officials still haven't traced the exact cause of the fire (a nearby garage is one possibility and arson is not suspected. But what happened happened, and Curtiss says he's unlikely to restore classic vehicles ever again. Photos courtesy of CTVNews.