Ohio barn fire kills 22,000 chickens

Fire happened in Ashland County

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

A fire at an Ashland County, Ohio barn on Monday killed 22,000 chickens and resulted in the loss of more than 86,000 eggs.

According to the Mansfield News Journal, Matthew Van Pelt, the barn’s owner, was cutting grass when he realized a fan was blowing smoke out of the barn.

Fire crews were called around 11:30 a.m. Savannah fire Chief Steve Dinsmore said by the time firefighters from Savannah, Ruggles-Troy, Nankin, Ashland and Tri-Community arrived on the scene, more than half of the building was engulfed in flames.

A new flock is scheduled to arrive in a few weeks.

Van Pelt said it's likely the 500-ft barn, worth about $700,000 will be rebuilt.

“We didn’t decide yet, but I’m sure it’s going to get rebuilt,” he told the Mansfield News Journal. Van Pelt doesn’t have commercial insurance but he said “the (Mennonite) church always helps its own.”

The cause of the fire is unknown, but Van Pelt believes an electrical issue started it.

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