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Fire burns Gypsum chicken coop; chickens saved

Gypsum fire fighters quickly extinguished a fire that leveled a pole barn housing a chicken coop. Along with nearby buildings, fire fighters saved most of the chickens.
Eagle County Sheriff’s Office |

GYPSUM — Along with nearby buildings, firefighters saved most of the 150 chickens caught in a coop that caught fire early Sunday.

And how does one save chickens from a flaming coop?

“Well, you put the fire out,” Gypsum Fire Chief Justin Kirkland explained patiently.



The call came about 6:13 a.m. Sunday when a chicken coop — actually more of a pole barn — caught fire at 11 LeGrow Road in Gypsum.

How the fire started remains under investigation, although it was probably not a fox in that particular henhouse.



Firefighters were on the scene minutes after the call came in. They kept the fire from spreading to nearby buildings, then put the fire out, Kirkland said.

Along with the Gypsum Fire Department, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and the Greater Eagle Fire Protection District responded to the incident. The Eagle River Fire Protection District provided a crew to cover the Gypsum firehouse while Gypsum firefighters extinguished the chicken coop blaze and responded to four accidents Sunday morning.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 or rwyrick@vaildaily.com.


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