Illinois Community Rallies to Save 525 Pigs from Devastating Fire
A fire broke out on May 23 at Blunier Farms in Forrest, Ill. The fire destroyed one of the farm’s five barns. Nobody was hurt and only 10 pigs were lost in the fire.
“Dad discovered the fire when they were leaving the farm to come have supper at our house,” explains Kent Blunier, owner and daily operations manager of Blunier Farms. “At the time, that barn wasn’t yet filled to capacity and only had 535 pigs in it.”
Thanks to the fast response of firefighters from Forest-Strawn-Wing, Fairbury, Chatsworth, Saunemin, Cullom, Pontiac, Piper City, Emington/Campus, Odell, Sibley, Cropsey and Chenoa, 525 pigs were evacuated and the blaze was extinguished before it could damage any other barns.
“The fire was apparently smoldering for several hours,” he explains. “Firefighters were there within a few minutes and started putting water on the end of the barn that was connected to hallways to other buildings. Then, they moved to other areas trying to put it out.”
Once they slowed down the fire enough, they were able to cut out sections of the side of the barn so people could crawl in behind the pigs and push them out.
“It’s an old nursery room converted to wean to finish, so the alley is on the side where the fire started and the inside was eight pens the width of the building,” he explains. “That allowed the pigs to move to the side that wasn’t burning.”
Three stock trailers showed up and people used panel fencing and herded the pigs away.
The firefighters were extremely organized and professional, Blunier says. Fairbury Police came to control traffic and other neighbors and friends from the community came out to help. A local BBQ food truck owner even came by and set up to feed everyone.
“There is no way we could make a list that has everybody on it,” he adds. “We want to say thank you to everybody that helped – from the guys with stock trailers to those handing out water and all the things we never even saw. Without all of your help, this could have been much worse.”
The cause of the fire remains unknown after three different investigators have been out at the site, Blunier says. The fire is still under investigation.
Now that the family has had time to reflect on the devastating fire that will likely result in over $600,000 in damages, Blunier says they’ve learned a lot.
“Make sure you have adequate insurance,” he points out. “There’s no way to prepare for anything like this but keep things up and clean in and around your buildings. Know where water, electric and gas come into each building and how to shut it off quickly.”
Perhaps most importantly, the Blunier family was reminded that they live in an amazing community.
“We already knew that, but this reinforced it,” he says.
Blunier is married to Jarrin and has two children: Reed and Gracie. He serves as an at-large director for the Illinois Pork Producers Association and operates Farm Hats, a Facebook group that reaches over 17,500 followers and provides a glimpse not only into farming, but also creates an opportunity for farmers to share about the many hats they wear each day. Blunier Farms markets 10,000 hogs annually and farms corn and soybeans.
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Telling Agriculture's Story One Hat at a Time
