LaGrange egg farm plans to rebuild portion lost to fire
By Dustin Alexander
Metro News Wire Service
More than 300,000 chickens perished in a four-alarm fire Friday night that destroyed one of 14 barns at S&R Egg Farm, N9416 Tamarack Road in the Town of LaGrange in Walworth County.
The blaze started about 7:30 p.m. There were no injuries reported.
Almost 60 agencies responded to the fire, but efforts were hampered by cold weather, freezing hoses and lack of readily available water. With no fire hydrants nearby, tankers had to refill in Palmyra, Eagle, Whitewater and Elkhorn.
The fire was finally extinguished just after 11 a.m. Saturday.
“It was all over and done for the hens early on,” said Lauderdale La Grange Fire Chief John Duerst. “They can’t tolerate extreme temperature changes,”
Saturday afternoon all that could be seen was the shell of a burnt out barn with hundreds of charred hen cages still stacked in rows.
The company does plan to rebuild as soon as an investigation is complete.
“All other barns remain in full production,” said Dan Gorecki, CEO, S&R Egg Farm. There was no damage to the company offices or facilities in which the eggs are processed and packaged for shipment to customers.”
“S&R would like to thank and acknowledge the efforts of all the fire departments deployed and appreciates those sending compassionate regards,” Gorecki said.
The barns house approximately 2.4 million hens, which produce over a million eggs daily.
S&R Egg Farm, Inc. is a third-generation family owned business opened in 1958 and currently employs 155 people. The company supplies eggs to markets, restaurants and bakeries.
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