ERDA, Utah, Sept. 5, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — More than 300,000 chickens were killed Tuesday morning in a fire at the Fassio Egg Farm’s Erda location.
North Tooele Fire crews were dispatched at 7:30 to the structure fire at the farm, at 3216 W. Erda Way.
“Upon arrival, our initial crew encountered a structure containing egg laying hens that was heavily involved in fire,” says a Facebook post by the North Tooele Fire District. “Within a matter of minutes, the nature of the fire had changed to a fully involved structure.”
Additional crews were requested, and arrived from the Grantsville Fire Department, the Tooele City Fire Department, the Utah Division of Forestry and nearly a dozen other agencies.
“Our biggest challenge was an adequate water supply,” the post says. “We went through more than 150,000 gallons of water, but we were not able to supply water quick enough for crews to prevent the spread of the fire to an additional building attached to the initial structure. Crews were however able to prevent the spread of the fire to the main building and warehouse.”
Crews planned to stay Tuesday night, to do mop up and watch for fire flair, the post says.
“In all, an estimated 300k chickens were killed in the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.”
The Fassio Egg Farm’s company website says the business started in 1915 when founder James Fassio bought a 45-acre farm and 50 chickens.
