Flames Consume Egg Production Building in California

Fire ripped through an egg production plant Friday afternoon in Keyes, California, killing an estimated 280,000 hens, local media reports.

Firefighters arriving about 1 p.m. at the Gemperle Farms facility were forced to immediate go into defensive mode to contain and prevent the fire consuming the large metal warehouse from spreading to nearby structures and businesses, the Keyes Fire Protection District Facebook site states.

The warehouse, three stories tall and measuring 200-feet by 400-feet, was a complete loss, the Turlock Journal reports. Lack of adequate water on site forced firefighters to stretch large-diameter hose nearly 1,500 feet to reach the nearest hydrant.

Meanwhile, numerous fire departments responding to a mutual aid request organized a rotation of eight tanker trucks to shuttle additional water to the fire.

No human injuries were reported.

“We’d like to give a thanks to all the departments who responded to the mutual aid request,” the KFPD Facebook page states. “While the fire destroyed one building it could have been much worse.”