Mechanical Room Fire Causes $50k in Damage at Koch Foods Fairfield, Ohio, Facility

Jan. 3, 2025

No one was injured, and fire was kept at bay by sprinkler system — production interrupted for approximately an hour, reports said.

Andy Hanacek

A fire at a Koch Foods processing plant in Fairfield, Ohio, earlier this week resulted in about $50,000 in damages, according to news reports covering the event.

The fire broke out the morning of Dec. 31, while the plant was in operation, in a mechanical room on the second floor of the facility. The sprinkler system activated and mitigated the spread of the fire, and firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames in about 20 minutes, the reports said.

No one was injured, as the plant was evacuated by the time firefighters arrived. The cause of the fire is believed to be a malfunctioning motor in the mechanical room. Production was disrupted for about an hour, another news report noted, and employees returned to work once it was safe to do so.

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.