It was a sexplosion —and not the good kind.
A fire at a cattle-breeding facility caused 100 canisters full of sperm to explode, blanketing the lab and forcing firefighters to dodge “projectiles” filled with valuable cattle semen.
The Yarram Herd Services building, located in the Gippsland region of Australia, burst into flames at approximately 3 a.m. Monday, after which the blaze quickly engulfed the structure and destroyed the cryogenic canisters filled with semen, reports ABC Australia.
It took 10 fire crews nearly two hours to contain the inferno, with many ducking in order to avoid getting struck by the containers of bovine semen.
“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,” Country Fire Authority Gippsland commander Chris Loeschenkohl tells ABC.
Loeschenkohl says that this forced firefighters to go into a defensive mode to protect both themselves and the neighboring community, adding that “they did a magnificent job.”
As for Yarram Herd Services, the catastrophe is no laughing matter. The company has provided artificial insemination services for dairy and beef farmers throughout the region for the past 20 years. Each canister was worth between $342 and $685 USD, with the semen inside varying in price, Yarram Herd Services committee vice chairman Aaron Thomas told ABC.
“It’s going to be a huge blow, especially for our farmers,” he said.