Turkey farm blaze which killed 3,000 birds was accident, says fire service

A huge fire which badly damaged a turkey farm in Nantwich killing 3,000 birds was an accident, early investigations suggest.

The blaze ripped through one of the large barns at the farm next door to Alvaston Hall Hotel, off Peach Lane, Nantwich, on Sunday (April 19th).

Aviagen Turkeys, owners of the farm, later confirmed 3,000 turkeys died in the incident.

Today, after several days investigating the incident, Cheshire Fire and Rescue confirmed the likely cause was an electrical fault inside the building.

A spokesperson said: “The most probable cause was an electrical fault within the building, so it is being classed as accidental.”

Fire crews were on the scene for nearly 36 hours dealing with the incident which involved a large 60m x 25m turkey barn.

At its height, nine fire appliances from across Cheshire and Staffordshire were on scene.

As the images show, the roof of the structure partially collapsed due to the intense heat and machinery was brought in to remove the rest of the roof.

At the time a spokesperson for Aviagen Turkeys said it was grateful for the swift response of the fire service and confirmed that it “sadly led to the loss of around 3,000 birds”.

They added: “We are grateful for the swift response of the fire service and are working closely with customers to implement our contingency measures, which are in place for just such an eventuality.”