Fire at Jerome Bio-Refinery Thursday Afternoon
May 15th, 2009 by Joe Burgess
At approximately 2 p.m., Thursday afternoon, a fire was reported at the Jerome Bio-Refinery, on HWY 165 South, in Drew County.
While the origin of the fire is unknown, it seems to have began while seed trucks were being unloaded, and produced much more smoke that fire.
Workers nearby noticed smoke, and called for the manager, who quickly responded. The aeration fan was turned on, and authorities were notified.
During the afternoon, the cottonseed was separated and moved outside of the building, and the product in the area of the fire was hosed down, and coated with a dust reducing agent, according to Drew County Emergency Manager, Bill Horn.
Around 9 p.m., most of the fire-fighting crews were sent home, while a couple trucks remained on the scene to keep watch over the remaining cottonseed, and keep check on the “chute” where any fire may remain. That “chute” is a product transportation system that moves the product from the truck and shipping area, into a storage area.
According to Gary Sullivan, manager of Jerome Bio-Refinery, there were no injuries. Sullivan reported, “we’ve had 2 or 3 minor flare-ups, but haven’t had a flash-over”, and added, “It looks a whole lot worse than it really is.”
All damage and any flames appear to have been contained to the interior of the facility, while only a small amount of smoke was seen rising from the roof of the structure.
There were 540 tons of cottonseed stored in the facility at the time of the fire. It should be noted that the cottonseed was only being stored at the facility, and is not a part of the bio-deisel process in any way.
There were no “fuel-type” products of chemicals in or near the building. The future bio-deisel plant will be built north of the grain unloading and storage structure, which has served farmers for many years.
13 local fire depts. and 45 firefighters and emergency workers responded to the call, including Monticello, Winchester, Tillar, and Collins-Cominto, as did officials from Drew and Chicot Counties.
It appears that this was the first “road trip” for Monticello’s new ladder truck, since being given to the city by the Forestry Service. The ladder truck, with it 3 story high access, could have been by far the tallest vehicle used, if there had been fire located in the ”catwalk” areas of the building.
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