A barn on a Minnesota hog farm caught fire, and the blaze killed roughly 2,000 pigs and piglets, authorities said.
The blaze erupted about 12:20 p.m. Wednesday at the Nicolai Pork Producers farm on Renville County Road 16, about 4 miles west of Hector, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Flames had fully engulfed the barn by the time emergency crews arrived, the Sheriff's Office said.
Tens of thousands of gallons of water were shuttled to the scene from neighboring cities, and an excavator helped pull down the building's walls so the fire could be extinguished more quickly.
About 1,400 adult hogs and about 600 piglets died, the Sheriff's Office reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
