Contributed by Mike Feazel
A shed fire on Nahor Manor Road near Lake Monticello killed about 40 poultry and damaged a nearby house early Sunday morning (Nov. 27), Lake Monticello Volunteer Fire & Rescue reported. LMVFR received the call about 2:28 a.m. and was the first department on the scene. Upon arrival, firefighters found a 16 foot by 16 foot wooden shed with the roof already collapsed, fully involved with fire. The shed was located about 20 feet from the main house. Heat from the shed fire began burning the side of the house, with the vinyl siding warping and melting. The fire also ignited brush, leaves and trees in a seventy-foot diameter around the shed, threatening to consume many coops, cages and enclosures which housed chickens, ducks and quail.
Lake Monticello Fire Department deployed several hose lines, containing foam, to extinguish the shed fire and to protect the house. Firefighters quickly brought the fire under control to lessen the threats, and ultimately extinguished all the fires.
That area of Fluvanna doesn’t have fire hydrants, so tankers from all three fire companies were used to shuttle water from a fire hydrant in Nahor Village to the fire scene.
The homeowner told the firefighters the shed stored some of the family’s belongings and also housed approximately 40 chickens, ducks, and quails inside. All the poultry were found dead inside the structure.
The origin and cause of the fire is under investigation.
