Losing livestock is every producer’s worst nightmare. This week, producer Gary Cubbage of Stanley, Virginia, lost his poultry house that normally houses 15,500 broilers at his Pine Grove farm. A PR agency affiliated with Cubbage’s co-op said that quick responses allowed all but 1,500 birds to be removed and humanely harvested.
According to a Stanley Volunteer Fire Department post on social media, responders were called to a house fire at 4:05 a.m. Monday. The department’s chief, Terry A. Pettit, reported that once firefighters arrived, the entire building was on fire with flames spreading.
While the firefighters were able to contain the fire within the area, the poultry house suffered significant damage — $500,000 worth if declared a total loss.
Farmer Focus, an organic co-op and chicken processor, said that Cubbage owns three organic chicken farms in Page County, Virginia — Comertown Farm in Shenandoah and Pine Grove and Riverhill Farms in Stanley. His poultry houses supplies Shenandoah Valley Organics as part of Farmer Focus.
Molly Antos with Dadascope Communications, which handles PR for Farmer Focus, said in an email to AGDAILY that all birds were removed from the house within eight hours.
While many media outlets reported that all 15,500 broilers were lost, Antos said that the birds lost in the fire amounted to only 1,500 birds.
The fire department said that the cause of the fire is unknown, but they do know that the fire started in an area where the gas enters the building. Thankfully, no injuries were reported, and it took firefighters only 30 minutes to bring the fire under control.
