Massive fire ravages Illinois chicken farm, smoke visible for miles

At least 20 fire departments were called out Wednesday night to battle a massive fire at a chicken farm in Marion County, Illinois.

The fire started around 6:30 p.m. at Farina Farms on Highway 37. As of Thursday morning, it was still burning, and firefighters expected to battle the flames throughout the day.

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Sheriff Kevin Cripps he described the fire like “humongous”, with multiple buildings, each between 200 and 300 meters, surrounded by flames. These structures housed more than 1 million chickens.

The smoke was so intense that it could be seen all over southern Illinois and even showed up on Doppler radar. A Twitter user posted what appears to be a video of the massive flames:

Farina Farms in Marion County, IL is on fire. They are one of the largest free range egg facilities in the country.

The structures 300 feet away were also mysteriously on fire…

And now Iowa announces they are killing 4 million chickens due to “bird flu”. Coincidence? pic.twitter.com/aytUGUMtvb

— Katie Liane (@TheKaterPotater) May 30, 2024

What appears to be the City of Kinmundy profile shared on Facebook that firefighters were trucking water from both Farina and Kinmundy, urging residents to conserve water.

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Chief Luke Baker of the Beckemeyer Volunteer Fire Department said his crew transported nearly 30,000 gallons of water more than 45 miles to the scene. Beckemeyer was one of 20 to 30 tankers carrying water.

“You can imagine the amount of water and labor required,” Baker said. “MABAS (Caixa d'Ajudes Mútues Alarm System) coordinates these efforts to prevent the depletion of resources in an area. This was a tremendous effort by first responders.”

The cause of the fire is unknown and fortunately there were no injuries.

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