Fire decimates Midlands chicken unit

- Published: 19 March, 2010

Police and fire investigators believe a blaze at a Nottinghamshire free-range poultry unit could have been caused by a faulty extractor fan.

The fire at the 2,000sq m free-range poultry unit at North Farm, Stragglethorpe, on 15 March, killed an estimated 9,000 chickens. A total of 32,000 chickens were housed in the unit at the time.

According to fire officers, 30% of the steel-framed barn building was destroyed in the blaze.

Six fire crews from the region were at the scene to fight the blaze, which broke out in the early hours of the morning.

A spokesman described the fire as "accidental, possibly due to an electrical fault in an extractor fan".