Jim Beam warehouse storing barrels of bourbon destroyed
FRANKFORT, Ky. — 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 have been unable 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 drinkingwater tributary.”
The distiller hired an emergency cleanup crew, and state environmental officials were coordinating efforts to control bourbon runoff into a nearby creek that flows into the Kentucky River, said John Mura, a spokesman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet.
“We do know there has been runoff enter the creek,” Mura said. “And it has made its way into the Kentucky River.”
The runoff could have a “serious impact on aquatic life,” he said. Runoff is expected to create “low dissolved oxygen levels,” which could result in substantial fish kills, the agency said in a release.
State officials warned boaters and other recreational users on the Kentucky River that runoff will result in water discoloration, foaming and an odor.
Beam Suntory officials said the multistory warehouse that burned contained “relatively young whiskey,” meaning it had not reached maturity for bottling for consumers. Bourbon acquires its color and flavor while aging for years in charred new oak barrels.
“Given the age of the lost whiskey, this fire will not impact the availability of Jim Beam for consumers,” the spirits company said in a statement.
The distiller said it was grateful to the “courageous firefighters” who brought the blaze under control and kept it from spreading.
The whiskey maker suffered a total loss in the warehouse. The destroyed whiskey amounted to about 1 percent of Beam’s bourbon inventory, it said. One standard bourbon barrel holds about 53 gallons of bourbon.