Brazos County Sheriff’s Office determines Feather Crest Farms fire was a ‘non-criminal accident’

BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas (KBTX) – After completing its investigation, the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office determined a ‘non-criminal accident’ was the cause of the Jan. 29 fire at Feather Crest Farms.

Deputy Chris Searles said arson has been ruled out, but a more specific cause of the fire hasn’t been determined. He said that there’s a chance one might not be found.

“Somebody didn’t throw a match into the pile or anything. Sometimes it’s just, we cannot figure out exactly what happened,” he said.

With the sheriff’s office wrapping up its investigation, Feather Crest Farms is cleared to start picking up the pieces.

“Feather Crest can move on with their business. They can rebuild the buildings and stuff at this point and hopefully produce us some more eggs,” he added.

The fire happened in Commissioner Chuck Konderla’s precinct. He said the heat generated by the large operation is a fire risk.

“Chickens put out an enormous amount of heat, and so the building is air-conditioned and very heavily insulated, but that insulation is like a fire tinder,” Konderla said.

He’s satisfied with the county’s response to the fire but says a closer look needs to be taken at infrastructure in the area.

“Feather Crest actually has three wells on premise, but they were not able to be utilized because the electricity to the premise had to be shut down,” he said.

CEO Sam Krouse said in a statement that Feather Crest Farms is working on an investigation of their own, and does not have any updates at this time.

Feather Crest Farms has a Bryan address, but it’s not a part of Bryan or Kurten. The plant falls under the jurisdiction of Brazos County.

First responders fighting the blaze faced the challenge of maintaining an adequate water supply. They could be seen leaving the fire to fill up water trucks at the nearest fire hydrants at a nearby gas station.

This is not a new problem in rural areas, but it’s exacerbated when large complexes like Feather Crest Farms go up in flames.

However, it’s a risk companies choose to take. Konderla said that when big businesses are farther away from infrastructure, like fire hydrants, the more they’ll have to pay in insurance.

As Brazos County experiences rapid growth, he said they’re looking for ways to keep up.

“You always want better infrastructure. I mean, as the east part of the county grows, the need for another fire station is written on the walls,” he said.

According to Konderla, the fire response at Feather Crest Farms was the largest in the county’s history.