A fire at National Beef Packing Company late March 20 in Liberal, Kansas, caused major damage to a building and trailers, but no one was hurt.
The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating to determine the fire’s cause.
Police officers responding to the scene reported multiple trailers on fire, and the fire had spread to the adjoining building as well, according to a news release from the Liberal Fire Department. Fire units arrived to find a “well-advanced” fire involving four box trailers and two container trailers. The release stated a multi-story boxed beef storage building and load-out building were also involved.
Plant representatives were able to confirm that all employees were safely exited and accounted for.
Liberal firefighters immediately began control of the fire with two engines and deployed an aerial platform and multiple water supply lines. The Seward County Fire Department provided mutual aid.
According to the release, the firefighting operations were conducted with interior, exterior and elevated crews for quite some time. As some degree of control on the fire was gained, the aerial platform was repositioned, and plant personnel used yard trucks to move several of the smoldering trailers away from the building. Firefighters were then able to more aggressively attack and extinguish both the building and trailer fires.
Plant officials were able to coordinate closely with emergency responders during the operation in order to secure a power supply, understand building features and potential hazards and use specialized heavy equipment.
The fire was under control at 1:06 a.m. March 21. There is significant damage to the exterior and interior of the affected building, especially around the loading dock doors. The trailers, along with their contents, are expected to be total losses.
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
