The cause of a fire that damaged a hog confinement facility northeast of Rochelle last Friday was from a natural gas heater that malfunctioned.
Rochelle Fire Chief Brian Johnson along with the State Fire Marshall's office went back to the facility yesterday. Johnson said that the fire started in the west end of the south bay. The heater had a 110 volt fan.
The flames destroyed the south bay and a portion of the middle facility for the hogs. The entire complex was not destroyed from the fire.
Cost damage is estimated to be around a half million dollars on South Mulford Road. Huftalin Farms plans to rebuild the portion that was destroyed.
The hog confinement facility had around 2,500 hogs. An estimated 1,000 were killed in the fire.
