Fire at Planters Gin warehouses burns 26,000 cotton bales
13 Dec '06
1 min read
A fire broke out at a Planters Gin Company warehouse after 10 am on December 9, 2006. Over 125 firefighters rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control by afternoon, but smoke continued till evening with cotton embers sparking and igniting.
Deputy Chief of Memphis Fire Department informed that carts left in the warehouse which run on propane caused many explosions. Fire spread through firewalls to all warehouses and consumed 26,000 cotton bales.
Cotton and equipment worth many million dollars were destroyed, but some amount of cotton may have remained safe. Owner E W Atkinson opines that the blaze had started from cotton itself due to a tiny spark igniting deep within a tightly bound bale.
Firefighters had a tough time extinguishing flames because of the cotton. Atkinson plans to reconstruct these warehouses at the same place and reappoint all his 36 employees.
marketing@alchempro.com
