A powerful fire fueled by strong winds engulfed the Fine Oak Farms breeding complex in London, Ohio, on Wednesday, killing approximately 6,000 pigs trapped in barns. Firefighters battled the blaze for four to five hours under exceptionally difficult conditions. The cause of the fire is under investigation. A likely ignition source could have been a refrigerator malfunction in a staff break room. According to local media, the fire broke out in two of the five buildings that make up the farm, which could house up to 20,000 animals. No humans were injured. The fire left behind a large column of smoke visible from a distance.
Fire Cause Under Scrutiny
The preliminary investigation indicates the fire started in a refrigerator in a staff break room on the farm. Strong wind, reaching gusts of 35 miles per hour, spread the fire through the barns' ventilation system, which normally serves to cool the animals. The final cause is still being determined by investigators.
Difficult Firefighting Operation
High wind speeds hampered efforts to control the fire's spread and caused its behavior to change rapidly. Firefighters had to bring water to the scene because the local water supply was insufficient. The firefighting operation lasted from four to five hours, indicating the scale of the disaster.
Scale of Losses in Livestock
As a result of the fire, about 6,000 pigs that were in the barns of the Fine Oak Farms complex perished. This farm could house up to 20,000 animals. The fire affected two of the five low-rise breeding buildings. The animals were trapped inside as the fire quickly engulfed the facilities through the ventilation system.
Wednesday brought a tragically consequential fire to the large-scale pig farm Fine Oak Farms near London, Ohio. The fire, which according to initial reports started in a refrigerator in a break room, rapidly spread to neighboring barns housing thousands of animals. The key factor that turned a local incident into a disaster was the strong wind, which according to firefighters reached a steady speed of about 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 35 miles per hour. The ventilation system, which under normal conditions is meant to cool the animals in summer, became an air channel for the fire that day. ventilation allowed the wind to violently push flames through the entire complex of five buildings, hindering any evacuation of the animals. Firefighters from several units, including the Central Townships Joint Fire District, encountered exceptionally difficult conditions. The strong wind not only spread the fire but also complicated its suppression, forcing constant tactical changes. An additional challenge proved to be a shortage of local water sources, which necessitated organizing water delivery to the scene. Mass pig farming in the USA, concentrated mainly in the so-called "Pork Belt" (Corn Belt) in the Midwest, relies on large, enclosed facilities capable of housing tens of thousands of animals. Such intensive production carries fire risks, and similar disasters, though on a smaller scale, are not isolated. Safety systems in such facilities are crucial, but random events, such as equipment failures or extreme weather conditions, can effectively nullify them.Fire Chief Brian Bennington confirmed that the cause of the fire is still under investigation, though preliminarily, equipment failure in a break room is indicated. According to the Italian portal Tgcom24, which reports the longest firefighting duration – five hours, there were a total of about 7,500 pigs in the complex at the time of the fire, of which about 6,000 perished. The New York Times reports that the farm has the capacity to house up to 20,000 animals. All sources agree that no humans were injured in the incident, and the only victims were the animals. After extinguishing the fire, a huge column of smoke visible from afar remained, along with the need to remove thousands of burned animal carcasses from the rubble.
Mentioned People
- Brian Bennington — chief of the Central Townships Joint Fire District, commenting on the course of the fire and the investigation