Fire destroys Jim Beam bourbon-filled warehouse
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 and was continuing to burn Wednesday afternoon. Lightning might have been a factor, but fire investigators have not yet been able to look 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 Wednesday for an environmental reason, he said.
“The longer it burns, the more of the distilled spirits burn with it,” Chandler 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.”
Company officials said they are working with authorities to assess the environmental effects.
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 and eventually the Ohio 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 recreational users of the Kentucky River that runoff will result in water discoloration, foaming and an odor.
The distilling company said the multi-story 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 company said in a statement.
The destroyed whiskey amounted to about 1% of Beam’s bourbon inventory, it said.
One standard bourbon barrel usually holds about 53 gallons of bourbon that eventually turns into around 150 to 200 750 milliliter bottles, the Courier Journal reported. If all the barrels held bourbon, that would be a loss of at least 6 million bottles, the Louisville newspaper reported.
A second warehouse had minor exterior damage, but its contents remained intact, the company said.
Jim Beam is the world’s largest bourbon brand. The classic American whiskey brand is owned by Suntory Holdings, a Japanese beverage company.