Kentucky-Distillery Fire (Jim Beam)

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BARDSTOWN, Ky. (AP) - Flames engulfed a seven-story bourbon
warehouse Monday, sending alcohol-fueled flames more than 100 feet
in the air.
The Jim Beam warehouse collapsed about two hours after the fire
was reported at 3 p.m. and continued burning. The company said the
metal-and-wood structure held about 19,000 barrels of bourbon, or
less than 2 percent of its bourbon inventory.
There were no reports of injuries.
Firefighters doused two nearby warehouses with water in an
attempt to save them, while a fire truck stood by at a third.
"Only one of them is on fire and they're working to make sure
that it stays that way and to contain the burning whiskey," said
Larry Green, city administrator.
Bourbon from the warehouse ran off into a nearby creek and
caught fire. Firefighters began to dam up the area, said Fire Chief
Anthony Mattingly.
Emergency officials did not know the fire's cause, but the
company said in a statement from its headquarters in Deerfield,
Ill., that lightning was to blame.
Warehouse and distillery fires are typically devastating because
of the flammable alcohol. In 2000, a fire at a Wild Turkey
distillery in Lawrenceburg destroyed a seven-story warehouse that
held nearly 1 million gallons of aging bourbon in 17,200 barrels.
More than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is produced in
Kentucky, where it has been made since the 1780s. More than a
half-dozen distilleries are in the region, including Jim Beam,
Maker's Mark and Wild Turkey.

APTV 08-04-03 2100EDT

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ELLEN R. STAPLETON
Associated Press Writer
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (AP) - The smoldering white oak barrels that held
800,000 gallons of whiskey are all that remains of a Jim Beam
warehouse in the heart of Kentucky bourbon country that caught fire
Monday.
But fire officials aren't dwelling on what was lost, because
they say the blaze 40 miles south of Louisville could have been
much worse.
"More or less everything went our way," said Bardstown
firefighter David Dadisman, who helped with successful efforts to
keep the fire from spreading to three nearby warehouses and
hundreds of empty barrels. There were also no reports of injuries.
The fire began after the warehouse was struck by lightning,
according to a statement from Jim Beam's headquarters in Deerfield,
Ill. Bardstown Fire Chief Anthony Mattingly suspected that
lightning sparked the blaze, but could not be certain until an
investigation is complete.
If lightning was the cause, authorities said it was fortunate it
did not strike the three other warehouses, all of which were on
higher ground. That would have resulted in the whiskey running out
of the burning barrels downhill and spreading the fire to other
structures.
Instead, the alcohol runoff went into a creek that firefighters
could dam up to prevent further spreading.
"Of the ones you could have picked to burn, this one was the
least threatening to the others," said Bardstown Mayor Dixie
Hibbs, who watched the blaze from a road about a city block away.
She was there when firefighters got another break - the metal
and wood warehouse collapsed around 4 p.m.
Without the collapse, firefighter Dadisman said, the fire would
have spread to two other warehouses because the was blowing toward
them.
Bardstown Assistant Fire Chief Robbie Blanford said he welcomed
the collapse because it "took a lot of heat off us."
John Geoghegan, an employee at Trim Masters Inc. across the road
from the fire, was outside loading trucks when he saw the flames
stretching twice as high as the building. But he said the fire went
down considerably after the collapse.
"I heard a big boom, lots of rumbling," Geoghegan said. "The
flames shot up, and then came down."
The warehouse held approximately 19,000 barrels of bourbon, or
less than two percent of Jim Beam's bourbon inventory.
"We are grateful that no one was harmed and we appreciate the
heroic efforts of the first responders and the local fire fighting
personnel," said Rich Reese, CEO and President, Jim Beam Brands
Worldwide.
There are more than 200 bourbon warehouses in Kentucky, which
store about four million barrels, according to Ed O'Daniel,
president of the Kentucky Distillers Association. Jim Beam is the
largest bourbon producer in the state, O'Daniel said.
More than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is produced in
Kentucky, where it has been made since the 1780s. More than a
half-dozen distilleries are in the region, including Jim Beam,
Maker's Mark and Wild Turkey.
The last such fire occurred in 2000 when a blaze at a Wild
Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg destroyed a seven-story warehouse
that held nearly 1 million gallons of aging bourbon in 17,200
barrels.
A similar massive fire at Heaven Hill Distilleries' Bardstown
production facility in 1996 destroyed a distilling building and an
estimated 2 percent of the world's stored bourbon.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

APTV 08-05-03 0409EDT

[distchief60b]

OH NO!!!!

This has to be a national crisis....

Jim Beam is my brother and has helped me through many a difficult situation as well as given me strength and wisdom.... Isn't there a song about that???