Firm ‘Devastated’ by Fire at Large Ohio Egg Farm, Official Says

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Authorities say a fast-moving fire at a large egg farm in Ohio destroyed one large building and also killed hens in other buildings.

The blaze reported shortly before 3:30 a.m. at the Trillium Farms facility in Croton sent flames shooting high into the sky.

Chief Mike Richardson of the Hartford Volunteer Fire Department told the Newark Advocate that the flames destroyed one building that was about 300 feet long and damaged another. He said all chickens were lost in one building and some chickens were lost in two other buildings due to exposure.

No injuries were reported to employees or firefighters.

Company spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell said the full scale of the loss at the Licking County location wasn’t clear Tuesday morning but called it “a terrible situation” and said the company was “devastated by the loss of our hens.”

Richardson said the cause remains undetermined but is believed to have been electrical.

WBNS reported 30 fire department responding, and 47 fire trucks were at the scene at one point.

In 2018, a fire less than two miles (three kilometers) away destroyed a pullet barn at the facility. Pullets are young hens not yet producing eggs.