Tyson Beef Plant Shutdown Indefinitely After Fire
From KWCH12:
FINNEY COUNTY, Kan. Saturday 8:00 a.m. update Officials with Tyson have released the following statement regarding Friday's fire:
"We safely evacuated workers about 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. The plant will be down indefinitely until we can assess the damage. We will soon be notifying our team members about informational meetings."
Garden City officials say a fire at the Tyson processing plant in Holcomb is still active. Crews remain on the scene, and the fire has been contained to the area where it began.
Officials aren't sure exactly the scope of the damage, but part of the roof has collapsed.
Around 75 employees were bussed to Holcomb Elementary School overnight. All of them had dispersed from the school as of around 1:00 Saturday morning. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army were on hand to help out.
Officials also say, while they appreciate the outpouring of support for firefighters and emergency responders at the scene, they'd like people to coordinate donations through Finney County Emergency Management (620-272-3747).
There will be no “A” shift production for process and harvest today (Saturday) due to this fire. Authorities say a 911 call came in at around 8:35 p.m. from someone who said there was a fire on the west side of the building where the process begins.
Around 1,200 employees were on the scene at the time of the fire. All of them were evacuated and there are no reports of any injuries.
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