A Sanderson Farms feed mill in Adel, Georgia, was evacuated on the morning of February 9 due to a smoldering fire in one of the bins.
According to notices posted on the Cook County Emergency Management Agency (CCEMA) Facebook page, all personnel were evacuated from the facility at 8:08 a.m. as part of a Sanderson Farms policy. The Adel Fire Department, Adel Police Department, Cook County Sheriff’s Department and a specialized team from Texas contracted by Sanderson Farms, responded to the situation.
CCEMA in turn implemented a voluntary evacuation for residents who live within a one-mile radius of the facility out of “an abundance of caution,” and offered shelter at Cook Middle School for evacuees.
Johnny West, CCEMA director, told WFXL-TV the bin where the fire occurred contained soybeans.
By 6:25 p.m., the voluntary evacuation was lifted, as CCEMA stated “the immediate danger has been removed,” but a response team remained at the scene.
Sanderson Farms operates both a feed mill and a hatchery in Adel, as well as a poultry processing plant in Moultrie, Georgia, which is about 23 miles west of Adel, in the south-central part of the state.
Headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi, Sanderson Farms is the third largest poultry company in the United States and the tenth largest poultry company in the world. According to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, it produced 86.6 million pounds of ready-to-cook poultry on a weekly basis in 2018. According to the 2018 listings, the company operates 11 slaughter plants, one further processing plant, 10 hatcheries and eight feed mills.
