Barn Fire Kills 50,000 Chickens

On January 23 1997 at 4:12 a.m. firefighters were alerted for a barn fire at 1849 Letterkenny Road, Hamilton Township. When firefighters arrived on the scene heavy smoke was showing from a 40 by 450 foot chicken barn. Firefighters were pulled from the building about 10 minutes later when flames burst through the roof. Firefighters from nine companies battled the blaze finally bringing it under control in about three hours. An overheated light fixture was believed to have started the fire that killed 50,000 chickens and caused $475,000 to $550,000 in damage. The West End Fire and Rescue Company assisted at the scene.

This is the Vigilant Hose Company patch that is presently used. Without checking my records I could not tell you exactly when they started using it but it was in the early 1980's.