Tyson plant near Holcomb down indefinitely after Friday night fire
HOLCOMB, Kan. (KSNW) – Multiple fire departments are working to extinguish the remaining hotspots after 16 hours at Tyson Fresh Meats near Holcomb.
According to fire officials, the Garden City Fire Department is on the scene to keep an eye for any flare-ups and said things are under control.
Due to a roof collapse earlier Saturday, the crews had a difficult time reaching certain areas.
Garden City Fire officials said the call came out around 8:30 p.m. on Friday from a Tyson Operation Manager.
Garden City Public Information Officer Sergeant Lana Urteaga said in a press conference at 10:30 p.m. Friday that the fire started on the west side, near the slaughter area of the plant. Authorities are asking people to avoid the area.
Urteaga also said there have been no reported injuries out of the 1,200 people working.
A bus transported workers this morning to a school at 1 a.m. to get them out of the area.
Tyson Foods spokesperson, Worth Sparkman said in a written release, “We evacuated workers around 8:30 p.m. Friday night from our beef plant near Holcomb due to a fire that started in the box shop. We have had no reports of injuries. Firefighters are still at the scene. The plant will be down indefinitely until we can assess the damage. We will soon be notifying our team members about informational meetings.”
All workers were told not to come to work Saturday and there has been no word yet on what started the fire.
Officers also said they have enough food and water, but if you are looking to donate anything else to the teams, to call Finney County Emergency Management.
More information will be released as we learn more.