A significant fire blazed through a commercial farm in western Ohio, destroying a crucial facility housing numerous chickens amidst an ongoing avian influenza crisis. The farm was already facing challenges due to prior outbreaks that led to drastic losses in poultry populations, inflation, and nationwide egg shortages. Firefighters battled harsh winter conditions to extinguish the fire, which reportedly claimed a building with a capacity of 280,000 pullets. However, officials were unable to confirm the number of chickens lost immediately following the disaster, further complicating an already strained state egg industry.
Firefighters from four counties in Ohio and two counties in Indiana deployed equipment and personnel, working through bitter cold, snow and thick smoke as they struggled to tap ice-covered natural water sources.
The barn where the fire occurred had a permit to hold 280,000 pullets, and Mr. Baldridge said he did not know how many were lost in the blaze.
Collection
[
|
...
]