STANWOOD — The blaze that destroyed a chicken farm late Tuesday has been ruled accidental.
The precise cause of the three-alarm fire is still under investigation, said Mike Makela, a fire investigator with the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s office. The fire did more than $2.2 million damage and killed around 180,000 birds.
The blaze began just before midnight in the 2400 block of 268th Street NW, North County Fire &EMS Battalion Chief Christian Davis said.
Flames leapt out of three giant chicken coops, and it took more than 60 firefighters about four hours to douse the blaze, he said.
Makela said the fire likely began in a building that connects to the three coops that was used to collect eggs.
County investigators were joined by federal officials in the investigation due to the high dollar amount of the loss.
Insurance investigators likely will make the final determination about the fire’s cause, Makela said.
The buildings belong to National Food Corp. of Everett. The company produces a variety of eggs and egg products, according to its Web site
No firefighters were injured.
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