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National Beef Targets March 25 to Resume Production after Liberal, Kansas, Plant Fire

March 22, 2024

Wednesday night fire damaged six loaded trailers of boxed beef, exterior walls of the facility and loading dock doors.

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.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.