HORROR! 28,000 Chickens Dead in Massive Shartlesville Farm Fire

About 28,000 chickens died in a devastating fire just over the county line in Shartlesville, Berks County.

According to reports, fire broke out at 3304 Mountain Road in Upper Bern Township earlier this evening. WFMZ-TV reports Upper Bern fire officials confirmed 28,000 chickens died in the blaze.

The Facebook page Fire Alerts of Berks County reported right away that 1 of 3 chicken houses on the property was a working structure fire.

The destroyed chicken house sits on a 160-acre farm in rural Berks County, just outside Hamburg and beyond the Tilden Township shopping center and Cabela’s. The newest of the 3 chicken houses on the farm can hold as many as 200,000 birds. According to its listing at Zillow.com, the property is not for sale. It’s estimated value is $1.8 million. (We have no idea if that’s accurate.)

Shartlesville Chicken Farm Fire Updates

Here are some updates from the scene in Shartlesville:

Fire crews on the scene struggle to get enough water and water pressure to fully put out the fire.

According to recent transmissions on emergency radio, chickens in a second barn on the property are at risk at this time (8:28 p.m.). UPDATE: Fire crews were able to contain the fire to just the one building. On emergency radio, one fire official could be heard remarking on the job firefighters did in “knocking down” the fire.

Here’s another angle of the fire from one of that Facebook group’s users:

You can check out the Facebook stream from Fire Alerts of Berks County here:

Here’s the latest update from just before 9 p.m.

Here’s a look at the property from above via Google Maps:

Poultry Farm Fire in Schuylkill County

Earlier Tuesday, fire crews were called to a barn fire call at Koch’s Turkey Farm in Walker Township. SkookNews.com reports the scene was under control in just 15 minutes.

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