Bourbon And Smoke
A raging fire destroyed a bourbon warehouse Tuesday afternoon, releasing bourbon into a nearby river, setting adjacent woods on fire, and forcing officials to shut off the area's water system.
The fire at the Wild Turkey Distillery started between 3:15 and 3:30 p.m. at the end of a work shift, according to Greg Snyder, the director of operations at the plant. Flames were shooting more than 200 feet in the air 90 minutes later and the warehouse, which was seven stories tall and filled with bourbon, was reduced to a pile of burning rubble.
As well as destroying the warehouse the fire has contaminated the Kentucky River and the system which provides drinking water to the area has been shut down.
A large amount of bourbon was released into the river near a water supply intake area.
The fire also caused burning bourbon to flow downhill and caught the nearby woods and water plant on fire. However, firefighters have contained the fire there.
The city has enough water reserves for two days and city residents are restricted have been restricted from nonessential water use.
The cause of the fire and the point of origin were still not known, Snyder said.
"We're investigating everything at this point," he said.
Two firefighters were taken to a local hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion. No other injuries were reported, said Patrick Conley, a spokesman for the Division of Emergency Management.
The Wild Turkey plant is on a hill overlooking the Kentucky River about 30 miles west of Lexington. The road was closed in both directions, Lawrenceburg police spokesman Todd Sparrow told WHAS-TV in Louisville.
The warehouse was one of 12 at the plant. Each warehouse contains between 15,000 and 20,000 barrels filled with about 53 gallons of bourbon, Snyder said.
Firefighters were hosing down a nearby warehouse to protect it from fire.
The fire comes a month after employees returned to work after a month-long strike over a contract dispute.
Snyder said he had no reason to believe the fire was related to the labor dispute.
The distillery is owned by Boulevard Distillers
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