Over 1.6 Million U.S. Farm Animals Died in Barn Fires in 2020

Campaigners are calling for companies to take urgent action over potentially preventable barn fires as fatalities triple in number since last year.

Chickens in a ‘barn’ on an industrial farm. Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / Lauren Veerslaat

More than 1.6 million animals died in potentially preventable barn fires on U.S. farms last year, according to figures by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).

The group points out that the number of fires and animal deaths likely exceeds those totals, since municipalities are not generally required to report barn fires, and some companies decline to release the information to the public.

Among the animals killed in the barn fires last year, are nearly 1.3 million cage-free hens.

The fires themselves are reported to cause immense suffering to the animals trapped on the burning farms: whilst some animals die almost immediately, others have to be euthanized later due to severe burns and smoke inhalation. 

“It is completely unacceptable for the industry to tolerate massive numbers of animals burning to death when there are effective fire prevention and suppression strategies available,” said Dena Jones, farm animal program director for AWI.

One of the most devastating incidents on record occurred at a Michael Foods facility in Bloomfield, NE, where around 400,000 cage-free hens perished. And of the 87 barn fires tracked by AWI last year, New York reported the most (10), followed by Pennsylvania (nine).

Earlier this year, AWI and more than 10,000 consumers asked the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association to assess fire risks and the adequacy of fire prevention and suppression at poultry facilities in the United States. The association’s president, John Starkey, has not yet responded.

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