SOURCE - A fire destroyed a massive Jim Beam warehouse filled with about 45,000 barrels of bourbon, sending flames shooting into the night sky and generating so much heat that firetruck lights melted, authorities said Wednesday.
Firefighters from four counties responded to the blaze that erupted late Tuesday. Lightning might have been a factor, but fire investigators haven't been able to start looking for the cause, Woodford County Emergency Management Director Drew Chandler said.
No injuries were reported, Chandler said. The fire was contained but was being allowed to burn for several more hours Wednesday, he said.
"The longer it burns, the more of the distilled spirits burn with it," he said in a phone interview. "So when they go to put it out, there will be less contaminated runoff that goes into a drinking-water tributary."
Oooof. You hate to see it. No word on how the fire started, might have another cow kicking over the lantern scenario on our hands but nevertheless, we have lost SO much of potential liquid fun today. Loose juice, if you will. 45,000 barrels inside the warehouse were damaged in the fire and, while putting out the fire seems like the logical solution, experts are saying they're gonna let the flames dwindle on it's own so as not to contaminate the tributary near by. Can you imagine the smell? One whiff and you're probably drunk! While 45,000 barrels seems like an obscene amount of alcohol to lose (which it is), According to Jim Beam, the fire won't even make a dent in their supply, stating only one percent of their total inventory was damaged, most of which wasn't aged enough for consumers, so if you were worried about not having your Jim Beam supply restocked after this holiday weekend, I think you'll be alright. - @Traceahamilton