A fire at National Beef’s Liberal, Kan., plant around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, will cause the company to shut down production there until Monday, March 25, according to local news reports. The fire broke out in a loading trailer on the east side of the building, quickly spreading to other trailers and eventually to the building, the local fire chief told the news outlet.
The fire damaged six trailers fully loaded with boxed beef, the building’s exterior walls and the loading docks’ overhead doors. It was declared under control around 1 a.m., the report said.
All employees were evacuated from the plant and accounted for, the report said.
Investigators and the company are working to determine the cause and fully assess the damage. The company also was assessing production hours and potential time to make up for lost production, according to the news outlet.
