(Radio Iowa) – Smoke from a fire at a chicken farm in southwest Iowa’s Taylor County could be seen for up to 30 miles last (Tuesday) night. The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office said on social media the fire had been brought under control thanks to at least two-dozen fire departments and their more than 100 personnel, who responded to the fire near Clearfield (1641 Yellowstone Ave.) at an egg production company called Daybreak Foods. Responding departments included Creston, Clearfield, Bedford, Blockton, Diagonal, Mount Ayr, Lenox, Corning, Prescott, Afton, Murray, New Market, Gravity, Woodburn, Villisca, Sharpsburg, Greenfield, Massena, Stanton, Clarinda, Union Township, and Worth County, with the last two coming from the Grant City, Missouri area.

In addition to the fire departments, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office said four ambulance services, three county Sheriff’s Offices, the Taylor County EMA, Daybreak Foods employees “and countless community members” helped to combat the fire.  A Facebook Post by the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office at around 7 p.m. Tuesday had asked residents to stay away from the area.

Creston Fire Dept. photo

Creston Fire Dept. photo

According to information from the Iowa Area Economic Development Group, this is the second major fire at the site. In November 2021, when the facility was owned a company called Hen Haven, a fire destroyed the processing plant, biosecurity facilities and one of the barns for layer chickens. In February of 2022, in the midst of rebuilding, bird flu hit the site and the chickens had to be euthanized.

Daybreak Foods acquired the Clearfield chicken farm in 2023. Daybreak Foods is a family-owned, Wisconsin based company that employs 12-hundred people to manage 24 MILLION laying hens at its facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio.

Taylor County Law Enforcement Facebook page photo

Taylor County Law Enforcement Facebook page photo