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Fire kills 250,000 chickens at one of Michigan's largest poultry farms
Associated Press

BERLIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Fire destroyed an egg-production building at one of the state's largest poultry farms, killing about 250,000 chickens and causing up to $5 million in damage, authorities said. No people were hurt.

Sixteen fire departments from four counties responded to the fire that broke out late Tuesday at Herbruck Poultry Ranch and destroyed the 150- by 600-foot building, which housed egg-laying hens.

Firefighters managed to keep flames from spreading to seven neighboring buildings. They used 22 tankers to shuttle water from several miles to put out the fire, Berlin-Orange fire Chief Matt Bennett told The Grand Rapids Press.

"We are glad there were no injuries, and remain continually impressed by the coordination and responses of emergency personnel in our region," farm President Steve Herbruck said in a statement.

The fire started in the middle of the sprawling complex, which straddles Ionia County's Berlin and Boston townships about 15 miles east of Grand Rapids. The building that burned was in Berlin Township.

Firefighters remained on the scene Wednesday morning to extinguish hot spots and investigate. They hoped to use data from a computer system in the four-year-old building to help determine the cause.

Herbruck has nearly 3 million egg-laying hens, the Sentinel-Standard of Ionia reported.