WANATAH, Ind. — Almost 2,000 racing pigeons were killed in a massive fire early Sunday morning, forcing the 2019 Hoosier Classic to be canceled.
Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the fire in Wanatah, a town in LaPorte County.
The Times of Northwest Indiana says Jim and Kelly Ward, the race organizers and owners of the Hoosier Loft, were housing all the pigeons for Monday’s race — where the pigeons fly from Missouri and back to Indiana — when the fire started and burned the building to the ground.
The WIBC newsroom reached out to the Wards Tuesday morning. They did not want to talk, but called the fire “devastating.”
The Hoosier Classic is the largest pigeon race in North America. The pigeons were from all over the world.
The fire also killed four dogs.
(Photo: Thinkstock/Bluraz)
