300 chickens killed in McHenry area coop fire
About 300 chickens perished Saturday afternoon when their coop caught fire on a McHenry area farm.
Wauconda firefighters responding to the blaze at 30981 N. Fischer Road arrived about 3:05 p.m. to find the large chicken coop in flames.
Firefighters dumped about 7,200 gallons of water — brought to the scene by water tender trucks from Wauconda and the Nunda Rural Fire Protection — to extinguish the fire, which was under control by 3:27 p.m., officials said.
Damage was estimated at $5,000 and flames were contained to the coop.
Wauconda Fire District Battalion Chief Kevin Pyne said the fire is not considered unusual in that area.
“It’s in farm country,” he said. “There are still farms and chicken coops out there. It’s in an agricultural area of our district. We have had barn fires in the past.”
He mentioned one last year when three barns caught fire, resulting in extensive loss of hay.
Pyne said an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
In addition to Wauconda and Nunda fire departments, firefighters from the McHenry and Greater Round Lake fire districts helped put out the fire.