Category Archives: Food Processing

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Lexington, KY – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Smucker plant; No injuries reported

An investigation is underway after fire crews responded to two different situations at the JM Smucker plant in Lexington.

The Winchester Road plant makes Jif peanut butter.

Fire department officials tell us they responded shortly after 11 Monday morning for a reported hazmat incident at the plant.

When crews got there, they discovered there were two separate incidents going on. The first was a small ammonia leak, and the second was a fire at one of the roasters within the plant.

Additional fire units were called in to manage both incidents, which were in different parts of the building.

The sprinkler system activated and knocked down the bulk of the fire. The fire did extend outside the point of origin to the roof and at least one of the stacks. The fire has since been extinguished.

Fire officials say the ammonia leak was contained to the area of origin and the building has been ventilated.

We’re told all the workers at the plant got out, and no injuries were reported. Our crew at the scene says it looks like the workers have been allowed to go back inside the plant.

Company officials say they are working through their restart procedures.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Urbana, IL – Sprinkler system contains fire at food distribution facility; No injuries reported

Crews were called out to a fire at the U.N.F.I food distribution facility Tuesday morning just after 2:00. 

The 2nd alarm fire at 2611 N. Lincoln Ave. had moderate smoke and fire visible near a rooftop chiller unit located near the center of the building. 

The facility operates 24/7. Employees were already evacuating when crews arrived. 

The ladder truck was used to get access to the roof from outside.

The fire was contained to a 20’ x 20’ roof area around a chiller unit located above a mechanical and maintenance room.

There was minimal smoke inside the structure.

An interior building sprinkler head had also been activated.

The fire was extinguished, and the incident brought under control within an hour with no injuries reported.

The Urbana Fire Department was assisted by Champaign Fire Department, Carle Arrow Ambulance, and Ameren Electric.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Complete damage estimates are undetermined due to operational downtime and possible equipment damage.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Cornelia, GA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at processing plant

An in-house sprinkler system, backed up by efforts from local firefighters, pevented a potentially disastrous situation for Habersham County’s largest employer. A fire broke out early Sunday inside Fieldale Farm’s main processing plant on Industrial Boulevard in Cornelia.

Around 4:39 a.m. on May 8, firefighters from Cornelia, Demorest, and Baldwin responded to the report of an alarm sounding and smoke coming from inside the plant. Habersham County Emergency Services also responded to the commercial fire.

When firefighters arrived, they found light smoke coming from inside the main plant. No one was working inside the plant at the time of the fire, says Cornelia Fire Marshal Josh Hazle.

A four-person crew of firefighters entered the plant from the main parking lot side to begin locating the source of the smoke as other firefighters looked around the outside of the building. Within approximately five minutes, Hazel says the inside crew found a small fire on a conveyor belt in the plant’s poultry processing area.

“Five sprinkler heads had activated and most of the fire was out,” says Hazle.

After Fieldale maintenance arrived and turned off the sprinkler system and electricity, fire personnel finished the job. They extinguished the small remaining fire with an extinguisher.

“Damage was contained to the one piece of equipment and the control wires above it thanks to the sprinkler system,” says Hazle. “The smoke dissipated quickly after the fire was extinguished, and no ventilation was needed.”

Fieldale maintenance and sub-contractors immediately began working to repair the damage so that normal plant operations could resume Monday.

Firefighters determined the fire was caused by a short in a light fixture located about the conveyor belt.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Waterloo, IA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at Conagra plant

Waterloo Fire & rescue put out a conveyor belt fire, at the Conagra Grocery Products plant in Waterloo early Thursday morning.

Firefighters responded to the scene around 1:30 a.m., and the fire was extinguished by 1:48 a.m.

According to Fire Chief, Pat Treloar, the fire was located in the seed area of the plant, and there is considerable damage to the conveyor belt.

Treloar also said the sprinkler system worked effectively, and helped prevent the fire from escalating.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Lexington, KY – Fire extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Fire crews and an industry’s sprinkler system combined to quickly put out a fire today at the J.M. Smucker facility on Winchester Road.

According to Lexington Fire Battalion Chief Jordan Saas, firefighters responded to the report of a fire at about noon at the facility. Crews found smoke coming from the roof on the backside of the building and once on top, fire was discovered in one of the hoppers.

The fire was extinguished using a hose line and the building’s sprinkler system, Saas said.

No injuries were reported.

As of 1 p.m., crews remained on the scene checking for hotspots but the scene was turned back over the company at about 1:15 p.m.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Kingsport, TN – Fire sprinkler contains fire at food manufacturing facility; No injuries reported

The Kingsport Fire Department responded to a structure fire at a food manufacturing facility on Tri-Cities Crossing.

According to KFD Public Information Officer Barry Brickey, firefighters were called to Anita’s Snack Foods at 11:45 p.m. Thursday.

Crews had been alerted to a commercial fire alarm. They were later told the status of the alarm had been upgraded to a structure fire.

Brickey said employees at Anita’s Snack Foods attempted to put out the flames with fire extinguishers.

According to Brickey, the fire sprinkler system was able to contain the fire, with one sprinkler head dousing the flames.

When crews arrived, a smoldering fire and smoke in the building was all that remained due to the sprinkler system, according to Brickey.

Brickey told News Channel 11 that sprinkler systems are designed so that the closest sprinkler head to the fire reatcts to the heat. Often only one or two heads will react and contain a fire.

KFD extinguished the smoldering fire and hot spots and ventilated the building.

According to Brickey, there were no injuries reported.

Crews cleared the scene around 2:30 a.m. Friday. Brickey said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Kidron, OH – Fire system prevents fire from spreading from boiler room at poultry processing plant; No injuries reported

The sprinkler system at Gerber’s Poultry did its job. A fire in a boiler room at the well-known Ohio poultry processor late Saturday activated an alarm, summoning the Kidron Volunteer Fire Department to the plant at 5889 Kidron Road, at 11:14 p.m., Assistant Chief Ron Taylor said.

The first officer arrived on the scene several minutes later to find no smoke or flames showing, but saw water running out under an exterior boiler room door.

Firefighters gained access to the building when the maintenance staff arrived. They found an activated sprinkler head above a fire in an upstairs area on the mezzanine. The sprinkler system had suppressed the fire and prevented it from spreading and causing further damage.

“This is why we encourage sprinkler systems,” the Fire Department wrote on its Facebook page.

Glenn Mott, vice president of compliance for Gerber’s added, “Everything worked perfectly.”

Firefighters extinguished the remaining fire with fire extinguishers.

A second alarm and the Rapid Intervention Team were canceled once the extent of the fire was determined to be under control.

Kidron Fire declared the fire out at 11:31 p.m. Crews remained on scene to do an overhaul and clean up until 12:38 a.m.

No one was in the building at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported. The damage was estimated between $5,000 and $10,000.

The Wayne County Fire Investigation Team investigated and determined the fire was caused by a malfunctioning heating unit that ignited material in an adjacent area.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Watertown, WI – Fire sprinklers put out fire at chocolate manufacturer before fire department arrived

Clasen Quality Chocolate, 420 E. Horseshoe Road, started off the new year in a unique way Wednesday.

At 1:22 p.m., the Watertown Fire Department responded to a call for a structure fire at the factory. According to Watertown Fire Chief Kraig Biefeld, the blaze started when a box full of products caught on fire, but the fire was limited to just the box. Sprinklers put it out before units arrived.

“The sprinkler system did its job. That’s why we advocate the use of sprinklers in buildings,” Biefeld said.

The fire department sent the on-duty crew and Biefeld, who went to the call, said with the fire out, the crew went to make sure the fire was out and to ventilate the building.

Mutual aid was initially called, but was quickly called off, according to Biefeld.

Clasen Quality Chocolate produces a variety of chocolate coatings of different colors, flavors and sizes as well as 20 different varieties of chocolate and numerous fillings and spreads.

According to the company website, Clasen Quality Chocolate, “has transitioned from a small, regional compound coating manufacturer to a major supplier of both standard and customized formulations and value-added, confectionery ingredients across North America” and has facilities in Watertown, Middleton with corporate offices and the company innovation center in Madison.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

South Beloit, IL – Sprinkler system quickly contains commercial fryer fire

A commercial fryer caught fire Tuesday at Axium Foods and caused about $70,000 in damages.

The fire was reported about 8:15 p.m.

Firefighters arrived at the plant, 239 Oak Grove Ave., to find 20 to 30 employees outside and heavy smoke inside the plant.

“The (overhead) sprinkler system activated pretty quickly and kept the fire contained,” South Belolit Fire Chief Michael Davenport said. “We had the fire under control in about 15 minutes and the fire completely out in 20 minutes.”

Axium Foods, at times a three-shift operation, is a corn-based snack food manufacturer making chips and other products.

“The fire started in the fry unit of the oven,” Davenport said.

The cause of the fire, however, remains under investigation. Damage was estimated at $50,000 to the machinery and $20,000 to product lost. Rockton Fire Department assisted.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Beloit, WI – Cooker fire at Kettle Foods contained by sprinkler system

A cooker fire was reported early this morning at Kettle Foods in the 3100 block of Kettle Way, and no injuries were reported, according to the Beloit Fire Department.

The fire was reported shortly after 3 a.m. and all employees were evacuated prior to the department arriving on scene. Crews observed light smoking from the smoke stacks, and the fire was contained to the cooking area. A sprinkler system was activated and helped contain the small blaze.

A damage estimate wasn’t available as of press time, but the department said it’s expected to “be a significant dollar amount due to the piece of equipment” that caught fire, according to a department Facebook post.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Employees returned to work at around 6 a.m.