Thousands of chickens die in Pretoria farm fire
Nearly 100 000 chickens died in a chemical blaze that destroyed a building at the Eagle’s Pride chicken farm in Rynoue, Pretoria, on Monday night.
According to Johan Pieterse, spokesperson for the Tshwane Emergency Services, firefighters received the call to respond at about 6.50pm, Rekord North reported.
“A chemical, suspected to be that used to clean the chicken’s cages, caught fire. It would appear that workers attempted to put out the fire themselves before contacting the fire department. When we arrived, the building had been largely destroyed by the fire,” Pieterse said.
Pieterse added nearly 100 000 chicks and chickens, ranging from one-day-olds to 21-day-olds, perished from smoke inhalation, from being burnt to death and being killed when the building collapsed on them.
“A further 15 people suffered smoke inhalation, but refused to be taken to hospital. One man suffered serious smoke inhalation and was rushed to hospital for further care,” he said.
Pieterse also rubbished rumours on social media that the fire department arrived without any water.
“Two fire trucks arrived on scene first. They can only carry 2 500 litres of water. When this ran out they had to drive to the nearest tap, which was 7km away. The officers called for more water tankers, and three were then brought in. Two smaller water pumpers then arrived as well.”
The cause of the blaze is as yet unknown. “We will be working alongside Eagle’s Pride to establish the cause,” said Pieterse.
– Caxton News Service
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