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Alex Cabrero ReportingJuly 4th is still a little too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving for most of us, but one southern Utah farmer is very thankful he'll be able to provide for Thanksgiving.
The Southern Utah wildfires have burned more than a hundred-thousand acres in Washington County and still not a single home or business was lost, but it was close.
Mitchell Stackhouse, Turkey Farmer: “We could see fire on the ridge just heading down towards us.”
Mitchell Stackhouse saw the danger with his own two eyes and still couldn't believe how fast the flames were coming towards him.
Mitchell Stackhouse: “I saw the fire down there, and at that time it was only about an acre fire, a little tiny fire. I went into town to do some other things, came back about a half hour later, and it was everywhere."
And in it's path were nearly 15-thousand turkeys.
Mitchell Stackhouse: “My wife talked to me earlier in the day and said, ‘I'm worried about you,’ and I said they're gonna take care of us, just worry about the paycheck tomorrow."
Stackhouse manages a turkey farm in St. George for the Moroni Feed Company, and all the turkeys were trapped with no way to get out of the way of the fast-burning Plateau Fire.
Mitchell Stackhouse: “The fire actually burned posts on the end of the pens.”
But with the help of helicopters and airplanes, firefighters were able to keep the turkeys safe. It was close, and land all around the farm is scorched, but Thanksgiving will happen here.
Mitchell Stackhouse: “We didn’t have a single loss of birds because of the fire. We needed a little action down here. No, we didn't. We don't want any more action down here."
The Moroni Feed Company is also part of the Norbest Turkey company, a popular brand many Utahn's eat, especially for Thanksgiving. Because of the hard work put in by firefighters, it looks like Thanksgiving will be okay.
