Tens of thousands of chickens were killed when a massive blaze broke out at an egg farm in Illinois, forcing firefighters to battle flames for several hours.
The five-alarm fire sparked early Tuesday morning at Mussman's Back Acres Egg Farm in Grant Park, consuming two of the farm’s warehouses containing chickens, according to a spokesman for the farm.
The Grant Park Fire Department responded with roughly 35 other neighboring departments to fight the flames for an estimated nine hours. Approximately 750,000 gallons of water were used to strike the flames, but firefighters were forced to haul in water from a fire hydrant seven miles away.
Both buildings that caught fire were expected to be a total loss, but the farm said firefighters saved hundreds of thousands of chickens by keeping the flames from spreading to other buildings. No injuries were reported.
Each warehouse burned was the length of two football fields, officials said.
Mussman, an egg-producing farm, is owned by Michigan-based Konos and makes up about 2 percent of their business. Despite the loss, the farm said they expected to be able to fulfill their orders with minimal Disruption.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
