Two weeks after a devastating fire consumed two buildings and killed as many as 300,000 chickens, work at Fassio Egg Farms is beginning to return to normal.
The conveyer system designed to transport eggs from the coops has been repaired and the facility is processing eggs again, according to Corby Larsen, vice president of operations at Fassio Egg Farms.
There are additional repairs and clean-up at the facility that need to be completed, but the facility is fully staffed and operational, he said. The farm still maintains about 600,000 additional chickens.
“We’re back in it and running,” Larsen said.
Following the fire, Fassio Egg Farms had been forced to dispose of eggs until the conveyer system was repaired as they were not refrigerated quickly enough, according to Larsen.
The fire, which started Sept. 5 at 7:30 a.m., was likely sparked by an electrical problem with machinery in the chicken coop, according to Ryan Willden, North Tooele Fire District public information officer. After the first building caught fire, flames spread into the adjacent chicken coop via the covered walkway surrounding the conveyer system.
Units from 10 different agencies provided water tenders, including water tank trucks from sod farms, according to Willden. Between 100,000 and 150,000 gallons of water were shuttled to the egg farm from around the county to fight the fire.
A helicopter and apparatus from Salt Lake International Airport were involved in battling the fire, as well as ladder trucks from Tooele City and Grantsville City fire departments.