(Fostoria)– The State Fire Marshall’s Office has concluded its investigation into a fire Saturday evening that destroyed a large hog confinement near Fostoria.
The operation was totally engulfed when firefighters arrived shortly before 7:00 p.m. Fire area departments battled the blaze for about 12 hours.
About 6,600 head of hogs perished in the fire along with some equipment.
Dave Schipper of the State Fire Marshall’s Office has been sifting through the charred rubble trying to pinpoint a cause. He estimates the blaze caused about a million dollars in damage.
Schipper says he’s been able to rule out the possibility of foul play in the blaze. But he says they may never know for sure what caused it.
Schipper says he was able to determine the blaze started in a room toward the north end of the building.
Schipper says they’ve ruled out the possibility of the fire being caused by faulty heating equipment. He says the heaters that were in the building checked out okay and there wasn’t a large amount of propane that was lost. He says some propane tanks had just been filled prior to the fire and are still just about completely full.
As of now, Schipper says he’s listing the cause as undetermined.
(Story from Danielle Hitchings of sister station KDWD Hot 100 in Spencer.).
