Russell Brittain says the loss is “devastating” and he is not sure what he will do next. That, after a fire overnight destroyed a 450-foot long chicken house building and killed nearly 11,000 chickens.

“It hurts to see this,” said neighbor Tracy Fox.

She and others stopped by to tell their neighbor they were ready to help “in any way” they can.

Investigators say the fire was accidental and probably electrical but they’ve not pinpointed what shorted out.

Fire crews from across the area were not able to save that building and the chickens inside but were able to protect a similar building just feet away.

It suffered only minor damage from the heat and all the chickens in that house survived.

The fire was still smoldering under the metal roofing 24 hours after the building collapsed.

“It’s hard to get water on the fire that is smoldering,” said Brittain.

Even a thunderstorm with heavy rain was unable to douse it Thursday afternoon.

Brittain says they will likely let the fire burn itself out and then they will remove the debris and decide at that point what to do next.

All told, he thinks the damage is more than $300,000.

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