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Photos and story by Bob Bartosz, Nash County (NC) Fire Photographer
At 6:59 a.m. on May 23, 2019, fire departments from Battleboro Station 9 and Whitakers Station 10–both located in Nash County–responded to a fire call along with Heartsease Fire Department from Edgecombe County.The fire was located on the 2900 block of Seven Bridges Road in Battleboro. All three companies were volunteer fire companies. Due to the early morning hours, 15 firefighters responded along with EMS units.
The owner of the buildings was making his early morning rounds when he noticed smoke and flames coming from one of his nine buildings, holding approximately 10,000 six-week-old pigs. He said when the pigs reach 20 weeks old they will weigh almost 300 pounds and be ready to go to market. The owner’s quick detection of the fire allowed him to call for firefighters, who arrived at the scene quickly to extinguish the flames, thereby saving his livestock.
The responding crews had some lucky breaks along the way. In one instance, the fire broke a water pipe that was used to supply water to the pigs. This caused a water spray to cover the area were the frightened baby pigs were located, helping to extinguish the fire. The bursting of the pipes allowed the first-in firefighters to make an interior attack using a 1 3/4-inch line, controlling the fire in about 10 minutes and saving thousands of the pigs, who survived without injury.
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