A chicken house fire in Forsyth County on Monday left nearly 17,000 birds dead.
The building that burned was on an active poultry farm off of Pea Ridge Road in northeastern Forsyth County. According to Forsyth County Fire Department Division Chief, Jason Shivers, the chicken house was fully involved in flames when fire crews arrived.
According to Shivers, fires in a chicken house building burn very quickly and the wind at that particular time was also against them.
The other thing that hindered the operation was how far off the road the building was. “The building was set well off the roadway. We had to lay a lot of supply hose from the nearest fire hydrant down to the chicken house to get it under control,” says Shivers. He also says that these incidents take time because the buildings collapse on themselves, requiring a lot of overhaul to be done to put the fire out completely. He said fire crews worked well into the night, calling it an “extensive overhaul operation.”
He says the other eleven buildings, which all had chickens in them, were able to be saved. “Thankfully, we were able to keep the fire from spreading to the other buildings. We were able to keep the fire contained to this particular building. Fortunately, there were no injuries to civilians or fire fighters,” said Shivers.
The farm owner does have insurance on both the birds and building.
A complete investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
