PORT TOWNSEND — A chicken house went up in flames Saturday, but the owner thinks all the chickens made it to safety.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue firefighters extinguished a fire reported at 2:28 p.m. in a 16-foot-by-16-foot farm outbuilding on a 22-acre parcel in the 200 block of McMinn Road off Hastings Avenue, said Bill Beezley, district spokesman.
The fire completely destroyed the building, but firefighters prevented damage to nearby structures, he said.
The 5-year-old wooden prefabricated structure housed egg-laying chickens, Beezley said.
“The owner thought all the chickens got out,” Beezley said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but is not considered suspicious, Beezley said.
The building had been wired with 110-volt outlets to power a small refrigerator to keep eggs cool and also for lights and room heaters.
A passing resident of Gray Wolf Ranch called in the fire on his cell phone at the urging of the property owner, who had returned home to see 12- to 14-foot-high flames at the front of the building.
