The mood is sombre at the Cluny Hutterite Colony after a fire destroyed the colony's pig operation causing about $10 million damage.

15-thousand hogs were killed when a fire ripped through a barn over the supper hour Friday.

Thick, black smoke could be seen billowing from the colony which is located approximately 120 kilometres east of Calgary.

"We was at home and we seen this big black cloud so we knew it wasn't good," said colony member Johnny Tschetter. "When we came over, I opened the mill door, looked in and it was all full of fire, it was bad."

Fire crews from Cluny, Gleichen, Siksika and Dalum all raced to the scene, but it was too late - there is nothing left.

There is no cause yet, but colony member Frank Tschetter says they know it is not electrical or arson and it's believed the blaze began in the feed mill auger system.

More than 15 hours after the fire was first detected, the hog barn was still smoldering.

Johnny Tschetter says the community is devastated.

"They're all in shock. I mean, there's a lot of support, but there's nothing you can do. Just have to accept it and try and move on."

And for many, like Johnny Tschetter, the loss is also personal.

"You live with them, you're there every day, got a name for all of them, and to see that happen is just, you hope that the pigs didn't suffer."

Compounding the loss, the colony did not have insurance.

"It's concrete and steel and in the last couple years with hog prices being so low, you never made, you lost money every year," said Johnny Tschetter.

While the 79 members of the colony support each other and look for answers, the MP and MLA for the area also offered their sympathy and support.

"We wanted to come out and just pass on our best wishes to the colony boss and to the colony here," said Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson. "It's a devastating loss they've experienced here."

"Certainly it's a difficult loss in any case," said Strathmore-Brooks MLA Arno Doerksen. "And the hog industry right now is going through a lot of difficulty in the first place."

The pig operation accounted for about 70 per cent of the colony's business but it's not sure if it will reinvest in the hog industry.

The Fire Commissioner's Office says it will be back on the scene Monday to try and determine the cause of the blaze.