An explosion on the afternoon of November 21 caused a poultry barn with about 20,000 chickens inside to catch fire.
The incident occurred at a farm near Newton, Kansas, and emergency responders were paged to the scene around 3:25 p.m., reported KWCH.
A post on the Newton Fire/EMS Facebook page stated that one person was in the barn at the time of the explosion, but “At this point we don’t believe there are any injured persons as a result of the incident.”
Newton Fire/EMS also reported that the entire structure collapsed.
KWCH described the site of the explosion and fire as “an egg farm that is on family-owned land,” but did not identify the owners.
The cause of the explosion appears to be related to a gas leak.
Fire crews worked to establish “a safe area around a propane storage tank,” and once that safe area was established, allowed the structure to burn throughout the night. Water tenders from nearby communities assisted with the situation, the Newton agency said.
