A fast-moving wildfire in Idaho burned more than 2,400 acres and killed 38 pigs at Flying Pig Farm south of Kuna.
The fire, now contained, ignited shortly after 11 p.m. on Sunday, about 8 miles west of the farm. Strong winds rapidly spread the fire through sagebrush and dry grass before crews could stop it.
A Midnight Warning
Logan Thornton, owner of Flying Pig Farm, immediately noticed the smoke when he woke up to calls from his cousins, Michael and Tanner, around midnight. He raced out to the barn and immediately began making preparations.
“My cousin brought out a tractor and disc and started working the outside fence line around our property to create a firebreak,” Thornton says. “We had a very similar fire come from the same direction almost exactly two years ago, so we knew we needed to be ready.”
A Shift in the Wind
Around 2 a.m., the fire appeared to have died down enough that the farm might be in the clear. However, the wind picked back up, and the fire quickly reached the north side of the property.
“Firefighters and law enforcement kept us updated throughout the night, letting us know how the fire was moving,” Thornton says. “Once it became clear the fire was headed toward us, we loaded up the kids, gathered a few important belongings from the house, and hauled out the kids’ county fair pigs. I also loaded several pigs from our nursery so we would have breeding stock if we needed to rebuild.”
Loss and Survival in the Barns
The fire entered the Flying Pig Farms property from the north, east, and west. They lost one finisher hoop building. Although the fire never burned directly against the structure, Thornton believes an ember blew inside and ignited the straw bedding.
“After taking my family and the show pigs to a safe location, I returned and found the building on fire and the rest of the property actively burning,” Thornton says. “I was able to open the front fence and let the pigs out. Of the approximately 130 pigs in the building, 38 were lost and the rest were able to escape.”
Afterward, the team had to extinguish flames in a manure pile that had caught fire and continued to smolder. Thornton says it took a significant amount of heavy equipment to turn the pile over while firefighters applied water until it was fully extinguished.
Community Strength and Recovery
While the loss is a setback, Thornton is optimistic the farm will recover and is grateful for the outpouring of community support.
“We had a tremendous amount of help from family, friends, neighbors, firefighters and law enforcement throughout the event,” he says. “Overall, we were fortunate that the damage was not more extensive. We are thankful our family is safe and that many of the livestock and our home were spared.”
