Chickens

It's rare that anything exciting happens in the little village of Lyn (population: 500ish) just outside of Brockville (where I grew up) so when I read this story, I thought it deserved special attention...

http://newsfeed.recorder.ca/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=23139


Blaze at Burnbrae kills 40,000 chickens

By KIM LUNMAN
Staff Writer

Authorities are investigating the cause of a million-dollar plus fire that razed a barn and killed 40,000 chickens at Burnbrae Farms in Lyn, headquarters for Canada's largest egg company.
Firefighters and police investigators were at the site of Monday night's blaze this morning to determine how the fire engulfed a barn off County Road 27 containing the poultry.
"It was a total loss," said Leeds OPP Constable Wayne Scott.
"We're still guarding the scene and enlisting the help of fire marshals," he said.
"They will determine the cause of the fire," he said, adding: "There's nothing to suggest this was deliberately set."
Burnbrae Farms president Bob Anderson estimated the damage at "well in excess of $1 million" but said it's too early to put a price tag on the fire.
Officials were still trying to determine how to appropriately dispose of the dead chickens.
"There will definitely have to be some cleanup done," said Scott.
More than 50 volunteer firefighters from Lyn, Athens, Augusta Township and Front of Yonge responded to the blaze Monday night following reports from neighbouring residents of billowing smoke coming from the barn at about 10:50 p.m.
They worked until nearly 3 a.m. this morning to extinguish the flames, said Elizabethtown-Kitley Fire Chief Jim Donovan, who was at the site of the fire this morning.
"The guys worked extremely hard," he said.
They kept the fire from spreading to more than a dozen of Burnbrae's buildings at the company's Canadian headquarters.
"One of the fortunate things is we had done a pre-plan" for the area, he said.
Some employees were working at the Burnbrae site at the time of the fire, but there were no injuries reported.
The Ministry of Environment has been called in to determine how to deal with the chicken carcasses.
"The company is waiting for direction from the Ministry of the Environment for disposal," said Donovan.
He said firefighters also did not use any foam materials - relying only on water for extinguishing the fire to protect nearby wells.
The blaze will not slow down business operations for the company, Anderson said.
"We don't in any way anticipate any disruption with our customers," he said, adding "it's a relatively small percentage of our supply."
The company, which is based in Lyn, has processing plants in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, making egg products such as egg yolk blends, dried egg products, and frozen omelettes.
Published in Section A, page 1 in the Tuesday, July 24, 2007 edition of the Brockville Recorder & Times.
Posted 4:31:58 PM Tuesday, July 24, 2007.