A massive hay fire that ignited at a dairy farm in Chino late Tuesday could burn for up to five days, fire officials said Wednesday.
The blaze, which was reported just after 8 p.m. in the 8300 block of Pine Avenue, chewed through bales of hay and damaged a barn at the farm, sending up three-story-high flames and thick plumes of gray smoke, the Chino Valley Fire Department said in a statement.
It is not clear what sparked the fire.
Dozens of cows on the property, located adjacent to the smoldering hay, appeared to be unfazed by the fire. Video footage from the scene shows the animals eating and walking around as normal.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the property overnight. However, officials say the hay will probably continue to burn for several days before the fire can be extinguished.
Fires involving compact hay bales are difficult to put out because of the way the combustible material is packed together, according to fire officials.
“These fires are deep-seated into the material and make it difficult to access and extinguish,” the department wrote in a statement.
Firefighters’ main priority Wednesday will be to keep the fire from spreading and allow the fuel to burn off until they can break the bales apart and douse them in water, officials said.
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