Officials investigate cause of chicken house fire in Batesville

Firefighters from Habersham called in backup from two neighboring counties and two other agencies to help put out a blaze in Batesville Thursday afternoon.

 

The fire broke out at a chicken house on Kelly Mountain Road at Pittman Road around 3 p.m. The empty chicken house had collapsed but was still burning when units arrived on the scene.

Because of a lack of fire hydrants and public water in the area, Habersham County firefighters requested tanker trucks from White and Rabun counties to help haul in water, says the county’s emergency services director Chad Black. Firefighters from Lee Arrendale State Prison and the Georgia Forestry Service also assisted.

Black says forestry crews were called in to contain a woods fire that was sparked by the blaze. Firefighters knocked down the flames and contained the fire. They remained on the scene for approximately four hours.

No one was injured.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

 

A Habersham County firefighter knocks down a fire at a chicken house on Kelly Mountain Road in Batesville on Sept. 19, 2019. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
The Lee Arrendale Fire Brigade provided backup along with firefighters from White and Rabun counties and the Georgia Forestry Service. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
The fire completely burned the commercial chicken house to the ground. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
Firefighting efforts were complicated by the remote terrain. Habersham requested tanker trucks from Rabun and White counties to haul in water to fight the blaze. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
(Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)