Fire closes Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Guntersville, Alabama

Emergency crews respond to a fire at a Pilgrims plant believed to be started by an ammonia leak.

Freefood, Freeimages.com
Freefood, Freeimages.com

Pilgrim Pride’s Guntersville, Alabama, location caught fire on the morning of October 18. Fire crews told WAYY31 that the fire broke out just after 5 a.m.

Guntersville Police confirmed the fire was caused by some sort of mechanical issue, and it led to the ammonia leak. Workers initially believed it was the leak that caused the fire.

The Albertville Fire Department with Huntsville Fire's HAZMAT team responded to the scene to help Guntersville Fire crews. WHNT19 reported that crews put the fire out quickly.

Local police and the fire department urged local residents to keep their windows shut and stay inside because the fire resulted in an ammonia leak inside the plant.

No workers were harmed during the incident. Employees were all sent home and the plant was closed the remainder of the day. Pilgrims Pride did not respond to questions regarding when the plant will reopen.

According to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, Pilgrim’s is a vertically integrated poultry company based in Greely, Colorado. It is owned by Brazilian company JBS S.A., the world’s largest protein company. Pilgrim's produced 154.2 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2017, an increase of 12 million pounds – or about 8.4 percent – from 2016. Its fiscal 2017 sales were $8.835 billion, an increase from $7.931 billion in fiscal 2016. Pilgrim’s sales break out 33 percent retail, 30 percent foodservice, 23 percent industrial and 14 percent export. Pilgrim's offers more than 2,500 products. Its brands are Pilgrim's, Pierce and Gold Kist Farms, Just Bare and Gold n Plump.

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