Feather Crest Farms, a chicken farm in Bryan, Texas, went up in flames on Monday, January 29th. At this time the cause of the fire remains unknown and two buildings were engulfed by the flames. There are no known deaths or injuries to workers or civilians, however, several chickens did not survive.
That night a press conference was held. Jason Ware, Brazos County’s deputy emergency management coordinator responded to questions about the fire.
“Up on arrival, there were two buildings on Feather Crest Farms property that were involved with heavy fire showing,” Ware said. “At this time the fire is contained to the two buildings. There have been no injuries, no deaths to any personnel or civilians.”
So far there are no reported injuries and firefighters were hard at work to put out the flames. Since the fire was contained no major roads were shut down but traffic was minorly affected.
“We do have a request that all traffic on 21 continue to proceed as normal. We have had some traffic issues during the evening,” Ware informed. “Right now Democrat Road is closed from Highway 21 to Oak Lake Road.”
The fire was expected to burn over a few days. Ware mentioned during the press conference that at the time the fire was too dangerous for the firefighters to go into the building. Many firefighters and volunteers were helping with the fire.
“We have approximately 100 firefighters on scene,” Ware told the reporters. “Including all the Brazos County volunteer fire departments and emergency service districts (ESDs), along with the cities of Bryan and College Station. We have multiple surrounding counties here as well to provide manpower and water.”
Teamwork was a major part of putting out this fire and the involvement of the community made a difference. “The outpouring from the community and the sheriff and his staff has made it possible for us to get in and out,” Chief Herold Watkins of Brazos County said. “All the resources in the world doesn’t do you good if you can’t get there.”
Tuesday night Sam Krouse, CEO of Feather Crest Farms, responded to 25 News with a statement regarding the fire.
“The fire affected two chicken houses on site, and we are very sad to say one house had chickens in it at the time that have been lost. We are thankful for the swift actions of our entire team and that they are all safe. We also deeply appreciate the first responders who reached the farm quickly and helped prevent any further damage.”
Feather Crest Farms is located in Bryan, Texas. In 2020 the farm was purchased by MPS Egg Farms. Since then they have added around a million hens to their farm.
