TOCHIGI (TR) – Some 20 cows were killed after a shed and a cow barn caught fire in Nasushiobara City, police said on Sunday.
Six fire trucks responded to an emergency call from a 68-year-old farmer saying his “cow barn is on fire” at around 1 a.m., TV Asahi reports (Jan. 1).
The blaze was extinguished about three hours later, but the wooden shed burned down and the cow barn was razed halfway, killing around 20 cows inside who were unable to escape.
Police are investigating the cause of the fire, but believe an incandescent lamp used to provide warmth for calves in the barn could have set nearby straw alight.