Employees at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Dawson, Georgia, continue to be compensated while the facility remains out of operation after a fire and ammonia leak occurred there on April 18.
Around 9 p.m. on that date, a fire occurred in the dock area of the facility, and that incident involved the release of ammonia.
Following the incident, Tyson Foods suspended operations at the plant while officials evaluated the damages.
Worth Sparkman, Tyson Foods’ senior public relations manager, stated in an email on April 24 that the company is still assessing the damage and working to understand what will be required of the business related to the fire. “Our team is actively working on that now,” Sparkman stated.
During the weekend following the fire and ammonia leak, Tyson Foods notified its workers at the plant that they will be paid for a full 40-hour work week for the three weeks ending April 21, April 28 and May 5. Sparkman noted that employees may be called on to work during this time period to assist with clean-up efforts and other projects, but regardless of the amount of hours worked, they will be paid for 40 hours of work.
The poultry plant’s ammonia leak led to the evacuation of about 40 area homes, local news reports stated. In addition, Terrell County schools announced that there would be no classes on April 19.
No injuries were reported in relation to the fire or the ammonia leak.
Earlier Tyson Foods fires
The fire at the plant was one of several that have occurred at Tyson Foods facilities over the past couple of years.
In January, a small fire took place at the Tyson Foods cooked poultry plant in Green Forest, Arkansas. That fire was believed to have started accidentally in a drum that separates the breader from the oil, Green Forest Fire Chief Tim Howard said at the time.
There were also a pair of fires at Tyson Foods poultry plants during the second quarter of the company’s 2017 fiscal year. A fire in Vienna, Georgia, involved the company’s labeling department and an upstairs box room, while another fire in Vicksburg, Mississippi, involved a boiler building adjacent to the main plant. Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes reported in that quarter’s earnings call that those two incidents hurt profitability for Tyson’s poultry segment.
On January 3, 2017, the company’s pork processing plant in Storm Lake, Iowa, was the scene of a fire that started in the byproduct rendering area of the facility.
No injuries were reported as a result of any of those Tyson Foods fires.
