Close to 14,000 baby chickens perished in a barn fire at a poultry farm in Port Coquitlam Tuesday night.
PoCo Fire Chief Nick Delmonico said the blaze was likely started by a heater in the structure, however investigators are still trying to determine exactly how the flames spread.
"They need to keep the buildings real warm this time of year for the younger chickens," he said. "We believe it may have started with one of those heaters."
By the time firefighters arrived at around 4 p.m., Delmonico said the sheet-metal clad structure, which is about 100 feet long by 40 feet wide, was fully involved. He noted that there was a lot of flammable material inside the building, like wood and straw, and that it did not take long for the flames to spread.
"It's the kind of thing that can get moving really quickly," he said.
Firefighters attacked the blaze and managed to keep it from spreading to several other outbuildings on the property. Delmonico said it took about four hours for crews to extinguish the flames.
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