After a fire erupted at an artificial insemination facility in Australia, thousands of dollars of bull semen have been destroyed.
The Country Fire Authority showed up to the scene in Gippsland, Victoria at around 3 in the morning local time on September 17th. But by the firefighters arrived at Yarram Herd Services, the 820-square-feet building was completely overtaken by the fire.
It took crews over two hours and 10 fire crew to get the blaze under control with a total of 36 firefighters to contain the flames.
Approximately 100 cylinders filled with cattle semen have been destroyed during the fire.
Chris Loeschenkohl, Country Fire Authority Gippsland commander, revealed how firefighters fought the fire.
“The liquid inside the cylinders was rapidly expanding and essentially the lids of the cryogenic cylinders were just popping off the top and projectiles were being thrown from the building. So firefighters went into a defensive mode initially to protect themselves, because there were also LPG cylinders at the [neighboring] property, and they did a magnificent job.”
“I’ve never had anything to do with the artificial insemination (AI) side of things before. There was a couple of other flammable liquid cylinders stored within the building which did cause projectiles to exit the building. Fire investigators on scene following a blaze that completely destroyed the Yarram Herd Services building last night. Cause of the fire is still being investigated.”
“The liquid inside the cylinders was rapidly expanding and essentially the lids of the cryogenic cylinders were just popping off the top and projectiles were being thrown from the building, So firefighters went into a defensive mode initially to protect themselves, because there were also LPG cylinders at the neighbouring property, and they did a magnificent job. I’ve never had anything to do with the artificial insemination (AI) side of things before. There was a couple of other flammable liquid cylinders stored within the building which did cause projectiles to exit the building.”
The destruction will reportedly will have a massive negative effect on dairy as well as beef cattle farmers within the area as bull semen has been stored at the facility for the past two decades.
Aaron Thomas, Committee vice chairman, continued to share:
“The actual cylinders are worth between $500 and $1,000 per unit but the semen inside them varies in price. We’re coming into the AI season so there would have been substantial amounts of semen inside the tanks that we’ve lost, which was owned by our local farmers, and it can range in value from $5 per straw to $95 per straw. It’s going to be a huge blow, especially for our farmers.”
Thomas continued, sharing:
“A lot of farmers would have semen stock in the building in those tanks, preparing for AI, so we’ve got that plus all of our herd-testing equipment that was in there as well. So this is significant damage and it is going to have a flow-on effect on Yarram, especially after the drought that Yarram district has experienced over the last 12 months. It’s going to be a real blow for sure.”
Yarram Herd Services board, management as well as staff will continue to work on the situation while investigators have also been called in to find out how the fire started.