Silo fire under control in Zephyrhills

ZEPHRYHILLS (FOX 13) - For nearly six hours, crews in Pasco County battled a fire inside a grain silo that held more than a million pounds of corn.

The blaze started around 11:00 a.m. Sunday morning in Zephryhills. When crews first arrived, they were initially concerned that they would not be able to get to a water source. 

"We have a fire hydrant that's literally a half mile away," explained Shawn Whited, Pasco County Fire Rescue Division Chief. "We've laid a fire hose all the way out to it, set up relay pumping, and we have several fire trucks, about 2,300 feet of hose down the road."

Crews were finally able to control the fire after about six hours.

Two firefighters were transported to a local hospital with heat exhaustion. A spokesperson with the county says both are expected to recover. 

We reached out to the company who owns the silo, Cal-Maine Foods, but have not heard back. Officials say all of the corn was destroyed in the fire. 

The cause of the fire has not yet been released.