Explosion caught on camera of South Carolina chicken coop brings warning from homeowners

By Janice Limon

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    PICKENS COUNTY, South Carolina (WYFF) — A South Carolina family on vacation in Florida got a disturbing message from a neighbor over the weekend about what turned out to be an explosion at their home that was caught on camera.

The neighbor wanted to know why there were so many emergency vehicles at her Pickens County house on Sunday, according to Wendy Watson.

“The explosion was almost unbelievable,” Watson said.

Watson, her husband, Brian, and their two young sons, Andrew and Phillip, were enjoying their time at Disney World, and their 20-year-old son, Daniel, was house-sitting and feeding the chickens for them while they were gone.

The family’s coop included seven chicks, 23 hens and two roosters.

Watson called her son immediately, who explained what happened.

“We had some chicks in our coop under a heat lamp,” Watson said. “We are assuming that started a fire.”

In the video captured by a camera they have set up at their home, flames can be seen coming from the side of their chicken coop.

Those flames lead to a very large and fiery explosion.

“Most of our hens amazingly survived the blast, and Daniel is fine,” she said.

Watson sent us a photo of the coop before the explosion, as well as photos of the aftermath.

“My husband is very meticulous with everything he does, but we assume the set-up malfunctioned,” Watson said.

Of the seven baby chicks, “two of them miraculously survived, although that defies logic,” Watson said. She said all 23 hens survived, but two roosters died in the explosion and fire.

She said someone driving by called 911, and trucks from four Pickens County fire departments responded.

“The response from the fire department was apparently just remarkable,” according to Watson.

She wants others to learn from this near-disaster, saying:

“Now that this happened, we hear heat lamp fires are common. Apparently, brooding plates are much safer. We had this same setup inside our home during the chicks’ first two weeks of life out of the incubator. The outcome could have been so much worse.”

Watson and her husband thanked their neighbors, the firefighters and the passer-by who called for emergency help.

“This whole ordeal has been surreal,” she said. “I feel grateful and blessed.”

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