YORK SPRINGS, Pa. (AP) -- Authorities say more than 100,000 chickens died in a fire that destroyed a barn at a Pennsylvania commercial egg farm in Pennsylvania.
The blaze at Hillandale Farms in Tyrone Township was reported around 5:45 a.m. Saturday. Tyrone is about 29 miles (46 kilometers) southwest of Harrisburg.
A Heidlersburg Fire Company captain said flames were visible above the roof of the 600-foot (183-meter) barn by the time fire crews arrived.
Crews concentrated on keeping the blaze from spreading to other buildings. Three firefighters were treated at the scene, two for dehydration and one for a laceration.
The fire chief said adjacent chicken houses were undamaged and the animals unharmed. The burned building was destroyed.
Officials said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. It's believed to have been accidental.
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An early morning fire at a commercial egg farm in Tyrone Township, Adams County destroyed a barn and the more than 100,000 chickens inside, emergency officials said Saturday.
The 5:45 a.m. blaze at the Hillandale Farms facility off Oxford Road about three miles south of York Springs is believed to be accidental in nature, though the precise cause was not immediately available.
Flames were piercing through the roof of the low-slung, 600-foot barn by the time firefighters arrived on the scene, said Joseph Cassatt, captain of the fire police for the Heidlersburg Fire Company.
Shuttling water from nearby streams and ponds, crews were forced to attack the fire from the outside, with the aim of trying to keep the blaze from spreading to other buildings.
At its height, Cassatt said, the call involved units from three counties in Pennsylvania, as well as one in Maryland.
Three firefighters received medical treatment on the scene: two for dehydration brought on by the heat and humidity; and one for an unspecified laceration.
It was not immediately clear how the fire was discovered. Cassatt said the blaze was declared under control early Saturday afternoon, after dozers were brought in to level the remnants of the barn.
Last units cleared the scene about 3 p.m.
Hillandale bills itself as one of the nation's largest suppliers of eggs, selling under the Hillandale and Eggland's Best labels.
Attempts to reach the firm Saturday were unsuccessful, so no information was immediately available on the dollar value of the loss, or whether the fire will cause any temporary job losses to farm employees.
Cassatt, however, said he believed that all the chickens in the fire-damaged barn were killed. Some birds in two adjacent barns also perished due to heat, Cassatt added.