Warehouse Fire at Jim Beam

[pepcycle]

Lexington TV just announced that 20,000 barrel warehouse is burning at Jim Beam Distillery. Possibly caused by lightning.

More news at it breaks.

[pepcycle]

Fire Hits Jim Beam Plant In Bardstown

The fire broke out about 2:45, according to Bardstown police.

They tell 27 NEWSFIRST the fire started in a warehouse, not the plant itself, but it is spreading to woods and some trailers nearby.

The warehouse stores about a million gallons of whiskey. The dispatcher says the building has been... quote... 'engulfed' by flames. Investigators are not sure yet what caused the fire.

Other fire crews -- from Marion and Washington counties -- are on the scene, helping with the fire.

The Associated Press reports no injuries, as of 4:30 p.m.

[brendaj]

The fire was still burning this morning about 6:30am. They said they expect it to burn for a couple more days. Yesterday (about 5pm), a fireman at one of the road blocks told me the fire involved 3 warehouses. But the news only mentions one.

Sorry about the quality of this shot. It was still dark (I was hoping to slip thru the road blocks...it didn't work... ) and this was as close as I could get.

I'm not even a big fan of Beam Bourbon and it broke my heart.

Bj

[kgiammarco]

I'm not even a big fan of Beam Bourbon and it broke my heart.

I can't help but wonder why they can't put some sort of fire doors and halon (or similar) system in there... it seems like it would be a one time cost to cover a lot of valulable stuff... I know it's not a 'traditional' looking thing, but look at what the alternative could be...

(reminds me of when they took the fire supression system out of the lab that I work in last year... i guess that we aren't that valulable... )

-Chris

[bobbyc]

I tend to think that once a chemical came in contact with the barrel that would be the end right there. It would give us all more flavors to try and name.

[kgiammarco]

Hmm... a nice rye mashbill with just a hint of halon?

I have no idea what halon 'tastes' like but i imagine that it would dissapate relatively quickly after the room was ventalated... maybe they could use carbon dioxide or something like that instead... I would imagine that the big danger would be if anyone was inside the warehouse when such a system displaced all the oxygen in the building...

[ratcheer]

Nope, halon does not dissipate easily. It is a very heavy gas, so when it is released into a room, it displaces the air (including the oxygen), thus choking out the fire. Think of pouring water into a flask of oil. The water is heavier, so it goes to the bottom. The oil is lighter, so if enough water is added, the oil will spill out the top, first. Back to the original example and the air is like the oil, the halon is like the water.

Tim

[ratcheer]

Halon is an inert gas, I don't think it would interact with whiskey, at all.

Tim

[ratcheer]

Chris, it would be like trying to control a fire in a warehouse full of gasoline. I'm sure you saw the pictures in the other thread.

Remember, cars can run on ethanol just about as well as on gasoline. Actually, maybe even better. The only real problem with fuel ethanol is the small amount of water that cannot be removed, inexpensively. This causes engine parts to corrode.

Tim