30,000 chicks die in barn fire in Kings County
A barn fire claimed thousands of chicks at a poultry farm in Sheffield Mills
An early morning fire in a chicken barn in Sheffield Mills, N.S., destroyed the building and killed 30,000 young chickens.
"They were fairly young," said Jeffrey Skaling, the deputy fire chief of the Canning volunteer fire department. "They were probably two to three-weeks-old."
The Canning department received a call at 4:44 a.m. to 1515 Middle Dyke Road, at Wilmar Acres poultry farm.
The 60-metre long, two-storey chicken barn was engulfed in flames when they arrived, said Skaling.
Support from all around
The Canning firefighters received assistance from departments in Kentville, Port Williams, Wolfville, Waterville, Greenwich, Halls Harbour, New Minas and Berwick, said Skaling.
Aerial assistance was also brought in, he said.
The barn was the only building destroyed.
Reached on Sunday, Peter Swetnam, the farm's owner, said he wasn't available for an interview. His farm raises 750,000 chickens a year, according to the company's website.
The fire was out around 9 a.m., said Skaling.
The cause in under investigation by the fire marshal, he said.