Recently, thousands of baby chicks were killed in a fire that broke out inside a chicken house in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The overnight blaze occurred on Monday and the flames quickly spread through the structure.

Recently, thousands of baby chicks were killed in a fire that broke out inside a chicken house in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The blaze began in the early morning hours of Tuesday and the flames quickly spread through the structure.

Neversink Fire Chief Michael Nelson explained “It's a lot of open area. You do have your dust, your feeds, you have your straw you put down and stuff. That's why it went as quick as it did.”

Raging orange flames and thick clouds of smoke could be seen drifting upwards in the dead of night. (3, pic) A portion of the barn collapsed while the fire was in full swing.

The crews were evacuated and all managed to get out safely. The chicks, however, weren’t nearly as fortunate.

Approximately 20 thousand chicks were killed in the blaze. All of them had been about 5 weeks old.

The total amount of damages is estimated to be about 500 thousand dollars. That total includes the loss of the chicks. The cause of the fire has not yet been released to the public.