Fire destroyed valuable cattle semen at an Australian genetics laboratory this week.
The 250-square-meter Yarram Herd Services building Victoria ignited around 3 a.m. Tuesday; it took 10 crews more than two hours to contain the blaze.
Inside, a collection of 100 cryogenic cylinders containing cattle semen were destroyed.
“The liquid inside the cylinders was rapidly expanding and essentially the lids of the cryogenic cylinders were just popping off the top and projectiles were being thrown from the building,” according to Country Fire Authority (CFA) Gippsland Commander Chris Loeschenkohl.
Firefighters were forced into “defensive mode,” protecting themselves from shrapnel—as well as the propane tanks on a neighboring property.
“They did a magnificent job,” Loeschenkohl said of his team.
Yarram Herd Services provides (well, provided) an array of services in South Gippsland for 20 years, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
Local dairy and beef cattle farmers could count on the company for artificial insemination (AI), breeding advice, herd testing, calf dehorning, and freeze branding.
This week’s fire, though, has put a damper on business.
“We’re coming into the AI season so there would have been substantial amounts of semen inside the tanks that we’ve lost,” Yarram Herds Committee Vice Chairman Aaron Thomas told ABC.
“The actual cylinders are worth between $500 and $1,000 per unit,” he said. “But the semen inside them varies in price.”
Herd-testing equipment was also lost in the inferno.
“So this is significant damage and it is going to have a flow-on effect on Yarram, especially after the drought that [the] district has experienced over the last 12 months,” Thomas said. “It’s going to be a real blow for sure.”
Fire investigators are investigating the cause of the incident.
More on Geek.com:
- World’s Oldest Semen Successfully Used to Impregnate Sheep
- Human Semen Can Carry At Least 27 Different Viruses
- Watch: This ‘Robot Cowboy’ Is Helping Make Cattle Herding Safer
