ST. PAUL, Minn., (AP)--Arson was to blame for the fire that killed more than 300 sheep at Shepherd's Way Farms in Rice County, state and county investigators announced.

Susan Lasley, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said Jan. 25 that investigators determined the fire was started in the lamb nursery.

Of the 341 animals that died in the fire, 200 of them were lambs, she said.

A hay fire was set on the same farm on Jan. 20, so arson was suspected from the start. The state Fire Marshal's office and the county sheriff's deputies were continuing their investigations Jan. 25.

The farm in Nerstand was the largest in North America that produces cheese from its own sheep's milk. At the farm, Steve and Jodi Read turn sheep's milk into award-winning cheese and distribute it nationwide.

Date: 2/9/05

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