KINMUNDY, Ill. (KSDK) — At least 20 different fire departments were working Wednesday night to put out a massive fire at Marion County, Illinois, chicken farm.
The fire was still smoldering Thursday morning, and firefighters said they expect to continue battling the flames well into the day.
The fire began around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Farina Farms along Highway 37. Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps described the fire as "humongous" and said multiple buildings spanning 200-300 yards long were on fire.
Cripps said the buildings contained well over 1 million chickens.
The smoke flume could be seen throughout southern Illinois. It even showed up on the Doppler radar, Cripps said.
"As everyone probably knows, the chicken farm is on fire," the neighboring city of Kinmundy said in a Facebook post, adding that firefighters were trucking in water from both Farina and Kinmundy and asking for residents to conserve water.
The Beckemeyer Volunteer Fire Department hauled just under 30,000 gallons of water almost 45 miles from its station to the fire, Chief Luke Baker said. The department was just one of 20 to 30 tankers hauling water to the scene.
"You can imagine the amount of water and manpower that was being used," Baker said. "... Requests like this are made by MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) to bring resources in from different areas so as not to deplete a whole county's fire departments in one place. All in all, it was a massive effort by these first responders to being it under control."
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
No injuries were reported.
