TURNER – Fire officials may never know exactly what caused a fire at the DeCoster hatchery on Route 4 on Thursday night.

Turner fire Chief Mike Arsenault said intense heat inside the cinder block building destroyed most clues to the origin of the blaze.

The fire was not considered suspicious, and nobody was hurt. Investigators said the blaze started around machinery in the single-story building.

“The only thing we could find in the course of our investigation is that it started around an incubator,” Arsenault said.

When the incubator went up in flames, several plastic trays designed to hold chicken eggs went with it. The result, Arsenault said, was a great deal of smoke. Firefighters from several towns contended with that, and with intense heat, as they battled the flames.

“It’s like trying to work in a pizza oven,” Arsenault said. “That kind of building holds the heat in real well.”

The chief said bearings inside the machinery that burned may have overheated and started the fire. No chickens were in the building when it went up in flames, he said. Some eggs were lost in the blaze.

The fire was reported by a DeCoster worker who went to the hatchery about 8 p.m. to check on the building. When he saw a machine on fire, the worker tried to put it out with an extinguisher. When heat and thick smoke thwarted his efforts, the worker called for help.

Turner crews remained on the scene until 1:30 a.m. Friday as they mopped up and began their investigation. A section of Route 4 was closed to traffic but was opened again before the early-morning commute.