Pinery fire: 51,000 chickens, 500 pigs perish in blaze

SA chief veterinarian Roger Paskin said 51,000 chickens were killed at Hamley Bridge, while 500 pigs died at the Wasley piggery.

“There was a piggery which has received quite a lot of media attention,” Dr Paskin said. “There, 200 pigs died in the fire and a further 300 were euthanised subsequently.

“We believe that about 50,000 poultry were lost on a poultry farm, and at this stage that’s all we know.

“We thought it was going to be a lot more than that actually.

“When you think that some of these poultry farms have 500,000 or 1 million birds on them, then 50,000 pales into insignificance to be frank, but it’s still a horrible number. It’s not a number to be happy about, that’s for sure.”

Dr Paskin said livestock assessment teams from PIRSA, the University of Adelaide, the RSPCA and SA Veterinary Emergency Management had access to the southern and western parts of the fireground. 

“Looking at the map I’m estimating we’ve probably got access to about 50 per cent of the fireground,” he said.

“The area that we’ve gone into is actually so safe that we haven’t even had to be escorted by the CFS, which makes life easier from our staff.

“At the moment they’re busy working through quite a large number of sheep farms. It’s difficult to know numbers at this stage but it looks like a significant numbers of sheep that have been lost, or if not lost then needing treatment from our staff.

“The teams are on the farms at the moment, assessing sheep and treating those that need treatment and euthanising those that need euthanising. We’re not going to have figures for some time because those guys are still out there.”

Dr Paskin said estimating livestock casualties was difficult as many farmers were treating or euthanising animals themselves.

“There are quite a number of farmers out there who are taking care of issues themselves,” he said. “There are farmers out there who are euthanising and treating animals themselves without us necessarily having a clue what they’re doing, so there’s going to be a lot of data that we’ll never have access to.

“The one thing that’s very different from the Sampson Flat fire was the Sampson Flat fire was mostly hobby farmers and we had to give them a lot more assistance than the people involved here. These people are hardened stock farmers – they’ve been in the business for years and they know how to handle these things, but it’s still horrible and it’s still tragic.”

Dr Paskin said the speed at which the fire moved meant few people were able to move their stock or open gates.

“It was quite scary because the fire ran into a long line then the wind turned and suddenly it was this broad sweep of fire that swept up through that area, and it seemed to be very rapid,” he said.

“There’s going to be a lot of wandering livestock in that area.”

Dr Paskin said the livestock team would be on the fireground well after the fire had been contained.

“The CFS has indicated that they think they are going to be on top of the fire probably by tomorrow, but we still have to get in after that, so we’ll be working right through the weekend and probably into next week,” he said.

Anyone needing assistance is encouraged to contact the Livestock Assessment Hotline.

“My first advice is if you’re not sure of anything, contact PIRSA’s Livestock Assessment Hotline on 08 8207 7847,” he said. “We’ve had that upgraded from a single incoming line to three incoming lines to make sure we can answer calls. Farmers are welcome to call us if they are the least bit uncertain of what to do and how to do it.

“If they haven’t been able to get help from their own veterinarians then they can call that number and we’ll do our best to assist them.

“If they do need help, we can either send someone to the farm, or if they have any questions on how to assess the case, we can assist them over the phone.”

PIRSA’s Livestock Assessment Hotline: 08 8207 7847