As many as 70,000 chickens perish in Pine Hill Egg Ranch fire

A fire leveled a 25,000-square-foot poultry building that held an estimated 70,000 chickens July 18 at the Demler Brothers’ Pine Hill Egg Ranch in Ramona, Cal Fire officials said.

“Firefighters worked diligently to put out the flames,” said Kimberly King, San Diego County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, in an email Monday. “Unfortunately, the chickens inside the barn that caught fire did not survive.”

The blaze erupted at about 5:30 p.m. in the 25800 block of state Route 78 in the rural Witch Creek community, according to Cal Fire.

Ground crews and personnel in air tankers and water-dropping helicopters battled the flames, primarily working to keep them from spreading to two other large buildings on the property or into surrounding foliage, Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire Capt. Michael Cornette said.

The fire was contained to a single building near 10 other poultry buildings in that row. Cornette estimated the damages at $2 million.

Firefighters had the fire contained as of about 6:45 p.m., Cornette said.

The cause of the blaze, which resulted in no reported injuries, is under investigation, King said. However, there are no signs the fire was suspicious in nature, King said.

Alex Demler, Demler Brothers processing facility manager, did not respond to questions regarding the fire via email by press time.