PHOTOS: Approximately 85,000-86,000 chickens died in a fire that consumed an industrial chicken coop in the late-night hours of January 17 and early-morning hours of January 18 in Cherokee County.
Valleytown Fire Department Chief Justin Hyde told News 13 that crews were called to Andrews Valley Poultry Farm at 617 Taylors Creek Road in Andrews at 9:18 p.m. on January 17.
Hyde said the owners of the facility told him there were about 85,000-86,000 chickens in the building at the time of the fire. No staff were in the facility, and all the chickens died, Hyde said.
“It was a 60 feet by 600 feet commercial structure. When crews arrived, the fire was 50% involved. We requested a county-wide response for tankers,” Hyde said.
“It took us about six hours to put out the fire. Crews were there until about 3 a.m. Saturday morning.” Hyde said the cause of the fire is still under investigation and that the fire caused an estimated $5 million in damages.
WLOS-TV ABC 13 Asheville
