LOGAN — A fire destroyed a barn and approximately 120,000 chickens at Oakdell Egg Farms in Lewiston. The blaze was reported just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 23.
Cache County Fire Marshal Jason Winn said employees at the farm called 911, reporting smoke coming from the roof of one of the buildings. Due to the size of the blaze, firefighters from every department in the valley including Franklin County were dispatched to the farm, near 2500 South 1600 West.
“Crews were able to get on scene, grab somewhat of a water supply and start putting water on the fire,” said Winn. “Basically, we got enough water so that we could keep the fire from spreading to any other barns.”
Firefighters attempting to extinguish a fire in one of the barns at Oakdell Egg Farms, April 23, 2024.
The fire produced a thick plume of smoke that could be seen for miles throughout the valley.
Due to the remote location, firefighters didn’t have enough water to put out the fire. Additional tinder units were paged to the farm, to help transport water to the scene and assist in the extinguishing efforts.
Winn said the 20,000 ft. barn was built of wood, with a tin roof. Because of concerns that the building could collapse, firefighters couldn’t enter inside, and had to establish a defensive strategy.
“It was pretty tough. That tin is the hardest thing to fight fire. It doesn’t burn away like a roof would so we can get in the middle of it. Basically, all we could do is we find holes to put water in and keep the fire from going to any other buildings.”
The barn was a complete loss. Crews brought in a bulldozer to tear down the remaining parts of the building and extinguish any hot spots.
Winn said firefighters were successful containing the fire to the one barn. It could take investigators several days to determine what started it.
All of the employees were able to evacuate the barn safely. No firefighters were injured.