By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

MARSEILLES, Ohio — Workers discovered a fire in the dry storage area at Ohio Fresh Eggs a little after 11 p.m. on March 22. The fire eventually spread to other parts of the farm and caused a power outage which led to 250,000 hens being euthanized.

At least 26 emergency departments from Wyandot County, Marion County and four other counties were on-site, some for more than 24 hours; many were volunteer fire departments. Firefighters had to return to the scene when hotspots flared. “There was significant damage to the dry storage facility, office space and some of the cold storage areas,” said Hinda Mitchell spokesperson for Ohio Fresh Eggs. “None of the barns themselves burned.

“As result of the firefighting, we lost power to two of our 16 barns. That was an extended loss of power and resulted in us having to euthanize the hens in those two barns because they were without ventilation for about 24 hours which is too much for a hen to endure.”

About a half-million eggs in the cold storage unit were also destroyed. “It was a pretty significant fire,” Mitchell said. “It was really a terrible situation for us. It will take 6-12 months to rebuild.”
Egg production is continuing at the farm which is about 55 miles northwest of Columbus. Seventy people work on the site. Due to the extent of the damage, investigators could not pinpoint an exact cause, according to NBC News. Electrical components found in the area could not be eliminated as a cause of the fire. There was no evidence of a crime.

After the fire Karen Minton, Campaign Manager for Ohioans for Humane Farms issued a statement that the group was thankful there was no loss of human life, and regretting the deaths of the hens and that they spent their entire life confined in battery cages.
The statement then described the ballot measure that the organization hopes to put on the November ballot.

In response to that statement the Center for Food and Animal Issues stated that it was disappointing that the Ohioans for Humane Farms saw the situation as an opportunity to promote its political agenda.

“We basically condemned them for using this terrible situation for political purposes,” said Mike Bumgarner, vice president of the center.

“We’re not looking for the politics right now we just are disappointed that that is where this has gone because this is a terrible loss for us in terms of the folks who work with us and in terms of the animals that we care for,” Mitchell said. “The one thing that we are just terribly grateful for is the hard work of an awful lot of people who kept the vast majority of our flocks safe.”