Cattle Deaths From WI CAFO Fire Will Be in the 'Hundreds'

By CnAgri2012-06-29 19:56:29 Print

We have some new information on that barn fire that broke out this week near New Franken. Fox 11 News in Green Bay is reporting that the owners of the Dairyland Farm have lost at least 75 dairy cattle in the blaze, and that 200 to 300 more will need to be put down because of injury and smoke inhalation.

The fire started Wednesday evening in a new freestall barn that was under construction. Firefighters had to battle the flames by working around about a thousand cattle that were living in the facility, which is made up of five larger barns that were connected with walkways.

Carl VandenAvond of the New Franken Fire Department says work continues to determine which cows are treatable and which need to be euthanized.

The operation is owned by Larry Dufek. He says it's been a difficult time emotionally dealing with the loss of so many animals.

The total cost of the damage and the cause of the fire still is not known.