Investigators launched an interview with witnesses after a massive fire destroyed a beef cattle auction business in Kentucky. Other nearby businesses were also destroyed but no injury was reported after the incident.
In a report by ABC News, Lexington Fire Department spokesman Joe Best said in a statement that the massive blaze destroyed seven acres of the stockyards operated by the Blue Grass Livestock Marketing Groupit. However, the cause of fire is yet to be determined. The people being interviewed are business owners and other witnesses.
The incident took place on Saturday but Best noted that firefighters continued to put out smoky hot spots by Sunday as gusty winds still picked up. The smoke over the weekend churned up a plume of thick, black smoke, which darkened the skies for miles.
Yahoo News also reported that despite the fire destroying acres of the stockyards, Chief Operating Officer Jim Akers said that the 20 beef cattle in the facility were able to survive.
Scott Bucher, part owner of the business, did explain that the cows left in the facility were just part of the many cattle, CBS reported. He said, "If this was going to happen on a Saturday afternoon, this was probably the best time and the best day for it to happen. Cattle start coming back in on Sunday, for sale Monday. Saturday is kind of the down day. We're assuming there was a few cattle in there were a few cattle in there, but it would probably be the least number of any day of the week."
Firefighters were alerted at around 2:20 P.M. and that at least 120 of them battled the fire for several hours. Fire Chief Harold Hoskins said that there were a lot of wood in the facility and a lot of combustibles which were dried out and ready to burn. The wind also was a factor as to why the other businesses nearby were burnt and damaged.
The company will continue with their operations in other locations specifically in Mount Sterling and Stanford but it remains unclear if the one in Lexington would still be rebuilt after the massive fire.
