Fire, ammonia leak at Lexington’s J.M. Smucker plant cause evacuation
A fire started inside the J.M. Smucker Co. plant in Lexington Monday and spread into one of the building’s smoke stacks, causing a large response from local firefighters.
The fire department also responded to the plant for a separate issue Monday — an ammonia leak in another part of the building, fire officials said.
Maj. Jessica Bowman with the Lexington Fire Department said a roaster inside the Winchester Road plant caught fire. The fire extended to the roof and at least one of the smoke stacks. The sprinkler system knocked down most of the fire, but firefighters had to extinguish some fire in one of the stacks before it was fully put out, Bowman said.
After the fire was extinguished, firefighters remained on scene to make sure the fire didn’t spread to other areas, according to Bowman.
All occupants inside the facility evacuated safely and no injuries had been reported just after noon Monday, according to Bowman. Frank Cirillo, a spokesperson for the J.M. Smucker Co. plant, said the team is currently working through its restart procedures.
The ammonia leak was contained to the area of origin, according to Bowman.
Multiple fire crews were still on scene Monday afternoon. At 12:30 p.m. Bowman said crews will be on scene for at least another hour.
The plant is dubbed the “Home of Jif” Peanut Butter.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 12:45 PM.
