A fire in a building containing cylinders full of cattle semen caused them to explode, making for a messy clean up for workers the next morning.
The fire at Yarram Herd Services in Victoria started at around 3:00am on Monday night, local time, and took fire crews more than two hours to contain.
Over 100 cryogenic cylinders exploded in the blaze, destroying thousands of dollars worth of semen.
Yarram Herd Services' committee vice-chairman Aaron Thomas told ABC the cylinders were worth between $500 and $1000 each.
"We're coming into the artificial insemination (AI) season so there would have been substantial amounts of semen inside the tanks that we've lost which was owned by our local farmers, and it can range in value from $5 per straw to $95 per straw," he told ABC.
"It's going to be a real blow for sure."
Country Fire Authority Gippsland commander, Chris Loeschenkohl told ABC he had never encountered a fire involving artificial insemination before.
"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," Loeschenkohl said.
Fire investigators have been called in to determine the cause of the fire.
Newshub.
