About 250 hogs perished early Sunday morning when a barn near Henderson, Minn., caught fire.
A passing motorist reported seeing the fire about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, said Brandon Phillips, Henderson fire chief.
The barn, about a mile north of downtown Henderson on County Road 6, housed about 400 hogs. An excavator was used to peel back the barn's roof, which had collapsed, to get firefighters inside, Phillips said. Crews were able to cut holes in the walls to free roughly 150 hogs.
The rescued hogs have been moved to a barn in Renville, Phillips said.
There were two other hog barns nearby, Phillips said. "We're very fortunate that we didn't lose another one," he said.
Fire departments from Le Sueur, Arlington and Belle Plaine assisted, and crews were at the scene for about four hours, Phillips said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Phillips said he suspects an electrical wiring problem could have been the cause.
Henderson is about 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis.
