Hundreds of Hogs Die in Pennsylvania Barn Blaze
Source Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
Several hundred hogs likely perished in a fire that tore through a livestock barn Monday in West Cocalico Township.
About 400 hogs had been rescued by the time fire crews left the scene eight hours after the blaze started, according to Reinholds Fire Chief Kent Reich.
Reich said 1,400 hogs were housed in the barn.
"Amazingly enough, even as we were leaving, they were still pulling out hogs that were alive," Reich said. "So, at this point, I can't put a number on how many were lost."
He acknowledged it was likely that several hundred were killed.
Reich said the farm is owned by Lebanon-based Hibred corporation.
Fire crews were called to the farm at 8:50 a.m. after an employee discovered a fire in a mechanical room that links two 50-by-200-foot barns.
Reich said when he arrived, fire and heavy smoke were visible in the western ends of both structures. Crews aggressively attacked the blaze from outside the building as other firefighters and employees worked to remove the hogs.
"I thought they'd run away," Reich said of the rescued hogs that wandered around as firefighters battled the blaze. "They didn't seem to be in any hurry to go anywhere."
Reich said firefighters cut holes in the roof of the metal structures to try to get ahead of the fast-moving fire, which traveled the length of the barns through an attic space.
"We just couldn't get a handle on it," he said, adding that the fire fed off the barns' wooden trusses. Reich said it took crews about four hours to bring the blaze under control.
He estimated damage Monday night at $1 million.
Although the barns were not leveled by the fire, Reich said they likely will be torn down due to extensive damage.
Copyright 2012 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.
