ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A devastating fire at a poultry farm in Baharka’s sub-district, north of Erbil, killed 100,000 chicks ready for transport on Sunday, causing around two million dollars in damage, according to the farm owner.
"This morning, nearly 100,000 chicks were produced, all of which were burned in the fire, and until now, the cause of the fire remains unknown," Haji Ibrahim Gardi, a relative of the farm’s owner, told Rudaw.
In addition to the 100,000 chicks, some 200,000 eggs at the facility were also destroyed, Gardi added.
The farm owner reported the total material losses exceed two million dollars, noting that all the fire prevention systems within the facility were operational and functioning correctly.
A farm worker additionally told Rudaw that they faced delays in emergency response to the fire that erupted some 20km from Baharka north of Erbil. "The emergency response teams did not get here soon enough,” he claimed, adding that “it took them around an hour and a half to reach the location [of the fire],” a farm worker told Rudaw.
However, a fire department spokesperson disputed the claim, stating that they “were notified of the fire at 8:12 am local time,” and “despite it being far from the city, our team reached the scene before 8:30 am.”
Shakhawan Saeed also pointed out that for a farm this big, the owners did not have adequate fire prevention measures, relying primarily on a few fire extinguishers.
Since the beginning of the year, Erbil has reported 315 fires, with 27 occurring in the past month alone.
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