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Sam Penrod ReportingFire broke out at a turkey shed in central Utah with devastating effects; 15,000 turkeys were burned to death.
The turkey farm is owned by Utah's Commissioner of Agriculture, former State Senator Leonard Blackham. He is out of the country right now, on state business in Asia. But Commissioner Blackham has been told about the fire.
The fire raged over the weekend, just west of the town of Moroni. It is really a devastating loss. The fire appears to be an accident, although it is unclear what caused it.
Ashes and crumbled sheet metal is all that's left of the turkey coop, once filled with 15,000 young turkeys. The fire was reported about 10:00 Saturday night. Before firefighters arrived, all the turkeys were dead. Firefighters say when they arrived, the sheet metal was so hot, it was glowing.
The turkeys were only four weeks old and were kept in the enclosed coop. The building has several gas heaters to maintain the temperature while the turkeys are still chicks. They were almost old enough to be moved to an open-range coop.
The operation is run by Commissioner Blackham's son. The family farm raises about 300,000 turkeys a year, but losing 15,000 young turkeys is not only a financial loss, but an emotional one as well, to this are of Utah that relies on agriculture.
The Blackhams still have other turkeys, and they have insurance on those that were lost, but they say it will certainly cut back on their farm's production this year.
