- A fire which levelled two Jim Beam bourbon warehouses on Tuesday hasn't been put out with water, because water runoff could poison wildlife in nearby rivers.
- One of the warehouses in Woodford County, Kentucky, is still burning after more than two days. But it is so close to Glenns Creek, a tributary of the Kentucky River, that there is a risk to putting it out.
- Spraying the fire with water could send bourbon-infused runoff into the river, killing masses of fish. Traces of alcohol have been seen in the river already.
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A fire which destroyed two Jim Beam warehouses on Tuesday is being left to burn because officials worry that putting it out with water could poison nearby rivers with bourbon.
Officials from Woodford County's emergency management team say their best option may be to let the fire in Woodford County, Kentucky, die on its own.
Dousing the flames with water will likely wash the bourbon into local water systems, and eventually the Kentucky River, The Associated Press (AP) report.
Two on Jim Beam's warehouses caught fire at 11:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday. One warehouse was extinguished by 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the other was still burning as of late Thursday, and expected to continue.
Woodford County emergency management director Drew Chandler told the AP that leaked alcohol has already contaminated Glenns Creek, a Kentucky River tributary near the warehouse. He said alcohol is visible on the surface of the water.
John Mura, a spokesman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, said in a statement: "We're starting to see fish kill, and we think that it's very likely to get worse." Fish kill is an industry term for the mass death of fish.
To help mitigate the negative effects of the alcohol on oxygen levels in the water, oxygen pumps are being used in the rivers to stop fish dying, Mura added.
A handful of agencies are assisting in the clean-up, including the Bluegrass Emergency Response Team, who are using fire-fighting foam instead of water.
This is new @WKYT SKYFIRST video showing an aerial view as crews fight the fire at the Jim Beam aging facility. The fire is still burning. https://t.co/jYq66lZxjK pic.twitter.com/w3cr6X1xiN
— Garrett Wymer (@GarrettWKYT) July 3, 2019
A spokesman for Beam Suntory, the Japanese company which owns Jim Beam, told WKYT: "We operate 126 barrel warehouses in Kentucky that hold approximately 3.3 million barrels for our brands, and the warehouse that was destroyed contained 45,000 barrels of relatively young whiskey from the Jim Beam mash bill."
"Given the age of the lost whiskey, this fire will not impact the availability of Jim Beam for consumers."
The cause of the fire is yet to be confirmed. One possibility is a lightning strike, according to Chandler, the local emergency official.
The National Weather Service told The Lexington Herald-Leader that there were "a few" lightning strikes in the area around the time the fire broke out on Tuesday night.
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