WILLARDS, Md. – A fire at Gator Farms caused significant damage to a chicken house on Cobbs Hill Road on Monday afternoon. The Willards Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire, which broke out around 12:45 p.m., in a 40-by-500-foot metal and wood-framed chicken house, said the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.
The structure, valued at $50,000, and its contents, valued at $30,000, suffered considerable losses. The state fire marshal says about 250 of the 28,600 chickens housed in the facility died in the fire.
The property owner was alerted by an agricultural temperature alarm and 30 firefighters were able to bring the fire under control in 25 minutes. No injuries were reported. Preliminary findings suggest the fire was accidental and caused by an electrical failure in the ceiling.
