An industrial fire threatened the Perdue Farms facility in Virginia Saturday evening.
Around 8:41 p.m. on April 30, firefighters responded to 501 Barnes Road in Chesapeake, Virginia, after a plant operator discovered the fire.
In a Facebook post, Chesapeake Fire Department stated that firefighters discovered a fire emerging from the top of a soybean processing tank.
“Firefighters climbed multiple flights of stairs with hose and equipment to access the standpipe system,” said the post. “Water was applied and the fire brought under control in approximately one hour.”
The fire was extinguished by 9:48 p.m. No one was injured.
As reported by The Dallas Express, nearly two weeks ago, a fatal airplane crash occurred near a General Mills (GM) plant in Georgia.
According to Captain Ken Malcom of the Covington Police Department, a twin-engine Cessna appeared to have engine problems immediately after departure around 6:45 p.m. on April 21. Witnesses said the plane was heading northeast but had trouble gaining altitude and making strange engine noises.
According to Malcom, the plane veered right and landed in a remote part of the GM plant where tractor-trailers are parked. The actual collision took place around 300 feet away from the plant.
He stated that the plane seemed to explode on impact and set fire to several empty trailers.
There were no survivors.
In addition to this fire, The Dallas Express reported that a minimum of eighteen separate fires, crashes, or explosions have occurred at food processing plants in the U.S. and Canada in the past eight months.
Every year, United States fire departments battle an average of 1,210 warehouse fires, as reported by the National Fire Protection Association. According to the association, intentional fires and electrical and lighting equipment-caused fires account for around 18% of all warehouse fires. Since November 2021, fires have damaged or destroyed at least sixteen food-manufacturing facilities in the U.S.