Blaze at poultry farm kills 50,000 chickens
Up to 50,000 chickens are dead after a fire gutted a poultry farm in West Auckland.
A smouldering heap of corrugated iron was all that was left of the Stoney Creek Farm in Henderson yesterday.
The fire had started in the early hours of the morning and fire crews arrived after 1.30am to find three two-storey hatcheries ‘‘well involved’’ in flames.
A spokesman for Fire and Emergency NZ said the barns were each about 150m by 50m, and all were full of birds.
Henderson senior fire station officer Jason Orchard said 50,000 chickens had died in the blaze.
Only 1000 birds, which were in a separate barn that was not touched by the flames, survived.
Firefighters had to contend with dramatic scenes. There were multiple large explosions throughout the night as each barn had its own diesel tank, Orchard said.
The fibrolite cladding on the hatcheries also popped and crackled throughout the fire.
He said apart from the explosions, another challenge was pumping in enough water to fight the blaze.
The remote location was not part of the city’s reticulated water supply, so tankers, including an Air Force tanker, were needed to bring in water from elsewhere.
Nine fire crews were working to put out the blaze until about 4am. Two crews remained at the farm at 10am dampening down hotspots, the Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said.
Fire and Emergency would remain there until late last night at the least, and most likely well into today, Orchard said.
The farm was a contract chicken supplier for poultry giant Tegel.
The Fire and Emergency NZ spokesman said there was no initial suggestion as to how the fire started.
A fire investigator had been called to determine the cause.
The owner was off site at the time of the fire.
The fire had completely burned through several power lines from a nearby power pole and a Vector crew with a cherry picker truck arrived on scene about 9.20am.
Marianne McDonald, the head of campaigns for the animal welfare group SAFE, said there was no way to rescue factory farmed animals when there was a fire.
‘‘It’s vital that factory farms such as these need effective early detection systems and sprinklers, as well as effective water supplies, not only for the animals’ sake, but to prevent harm to firefighters trying to save these animals,’’ she said. ‘‘A step forward would be to follow the lead of the United States, where farmed animal housing must adhere to specific fire standards.’’