No persons or chickens were injured when a building at a large egg production facility in rural Adair County was destroyed Wednesday afternoon.

According to Guthrie and Adair County Emergency Management Coordinator Robert Kempf the origin of the fire is unknown at this time and the building is a total loss.  The blaze was contained to the one building and thankfully it had been empty for several days.  Approximately 120,000 chickens were scheduled to again fill the building in the next couple of days.

Mike Clayton with Rose Acres Farms says “we are most grateful no one was injured before or during the incident.  Everyone is safe and that is our major concern”.  The company will be contacting their insurance carrier for assistance in investigating the cause of the fire.

Fire departments from Stuart, Casey, Guthrie Center, Panora and Greenfield all responded to assist the Menlo Fire department in battling the blaze.  Emergency Medical Services personnel from Stuart and Panora were also on hand to provide assistance for firefighters.  The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Department and Stuart Police also responded to handle traffic control.

Raccoon Valley Radio will bring you more information as it becomes official.

Updated from original post on December 5, 2012 at 1:58pm.