Fire Destroys 3 Million Crickets in Louisiana

The owner of Armstrong’s Cricket Farm in West Monroe, La., says Monday night’s fire destroyed 3 million crickets.

Jack Armstrong estimates his loss to the building and the inventory at $500,000.

Fire investigator Charlie Simmons tells The News-Star the fire was confined to only one of the multiple buildings where crickets are housed.

Simmons said he believes the fire started from the malfunction of an electric fan motor.

Armstrong said although 3 million crickets were killed in the fire, the building only housed a small portion of the business’ total crickets.

He said some of the crickets lost in the fire were scheduled to be shipped out Wednesday to PetSmart locations across the country, and the rest were intended to be sold as fish bait in early May.