Palmyra egg farm fire likely one of the largest in village history
Fire likely one largest in Palmyra history
Investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked Thursday’s egg farm fire in Palmyra, a fire that took firefighters more than six hours to put out.
PALMYRA, Wis. - Investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked Thursday’s egg farm fire in Palmyra, a fire that took firefighters more than six hours to put out.
Firefighters say Thursday’s (April 23) fire was so massive it will likely become one of the largest in the village’s history.
Thursday fire
What we know:
Palmyra EMS Coordinator Dan Schiller was on scene organizing efforts to control this massive fire.
"It was a very fast-moving fire," said Schiller.
Bird's eye view of the fire
Schiller says half the building had already burned by the time crews were called. The response was upgraded to "five alarms" almost immediately.
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"Our initial attack plan was to protect the existing building next to it," added Schiller.
Soon, members from 40 nearby departments came to help Palmyra out. There are no hydrants in the area, so crews had to haul water to the scene and use a nearby pond.
Palmyra egg farm fire
"As our crews pulled out of the station and drove out of the village, you could see a very large plume of smoke," said Public Safety Director Paul Blount.
Blount said the blaze will end up being one of the largest in the village’s history.
"The material that is there is going to just free burn for several days. No matter how many thousands of – in this case – almost a million gallons of water was used," Blount added.
Palmyra egg farm fire adds to concerns amid bird flu issues
A barn fire at a Palmyra egg farm destroyed a building on Thursday, April 23, and added to concerns from neighbors already dealing with avian flu composting and ongoing odor complaints.
Facility empty, no one hurt
What we know:
Daybreak Foods operates the farm. Blount says it normally would have thousands of chickens inside. He says it was empty because of a recent bird flu outbreak.
"We had no reported firefighter injuries or civilian injuries – which makes us pleased as well," Blount said.
The fire department inspects these buildings at least twice a year. They train for large-scale scenarios. On Thursday, it became a burning reality.
Destruction after the fire
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FOX6 reached out to Daybreak Foods by email on Friday with questions, but have not heard back yet.
Investigators say right now, the cause is "undetermined" but they are still looking into it.
No flare-ups have been reported, but crews continue to monitor the scene.
The Source: Information in this post was sourced from fire officials in Jefferson County and on-scene reporting.