Hay Fire At Chino Dairy Farm Could Burn Up To 4 Days

CHINO (CBSLA) — More than a hundred loads of hay and feed in a barn are being destroyed by fire at a Chino dairy farm that firefighters say could last for several days.

Bales of hay began burning at about 8 p.m. Tuesday at Legend Dairy Farms, in the 8300 block of Pine Avenue in Chino. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but firefighters say the hay may have spontaneously combusted, which can happen when organic material is tightly packed.

The burning bales of hay were densely packed about three stories high, occupying the space of a football field. All livestock have been moved away from the burning hay.

"It's just sad, sad to see so much go," said Laura Mora, the wife of the farm's foreman. "This is what they eat off of, and it's hard to replace that. They just can't get it overnight."

Aside from keeping the fire from spreading, firefighters say they can really only watch it burn because putting water on the blaze could make it worse. The safest way to put the fire out is to let it burn itself out, a process that could take as long as four days.

"These types of fires, because they're so dense and there's so much material, it takes several days. I would anticipate us being out here at least Friday, maybe into the weekend," Chino Valley Fire Battalion Chief David Williams said.

Crews say they would like to get heavy equipment in there to spread some of it out, but it's not yet safe to do that yet – some of the hay has to burn first.

The fire is emitting smoke that can be seen for miles, and the weather is the biggest concern as the day goes on.