Picture of the fire at Rose Acre Farms. Photo credit to Lindy Dudley.

A major agricultural business in rural Stuart received immense fire damage to one of their buildings Monday night.

According to Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Jeremy Cooper, reports from Stuart’s Fire Chief Stephen Martinson share that both his department and the Menlo Fire Department received the call from dispatch about 6pm Monday night of a fire at Rose Acre Farms in Stuart, west of town. Martinson had reported that the fire was isolated to one building, though fire crews were still battling the blaze hours later due to being unable to easily penetrate the building’s steel exterior.

Cooper mentions that a backup generator for the 60×100 foot building kicked on at one point, causing a delay for firefighters to battle the blaze. Cooper points out that no chickens were in the building at the time of the fire, and between fire and water damage the building will be a total loss. There were 10 different fire departments that were at the scene including Stuart, Menlo, Dexter, Redfield, Greenfield, Guthrie Center, Panora, Adair, Casey and Earlham. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office and Coopers EMA office also were on scene. Raccoon Valley Radio will bring you more information as it becomes official.