More than 24-hundred hogs died in a fire at a hog confinement in northwest Iowa’s Plymouth County. Fire fighters from five communities fought the blaze, which was reported at about 10:30 Friday morning.

According to Kingsley Fire Chief Paul Huth, the hog barn was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived on the scene. He says the barn is totally gone. Huth says an electrical exhaust fan is what is being blamed for the fire’s origin. “The owner…had done chores in the other building and he smelled smoke…That’s when he realized a fan was engulfed [in flames]…It was blowing fire into the building and that’s what started it all,” Huth says.

The Kingsley fire chief says the fire burned for a couple of hours before firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control.

(Radio Iowa)