3-alarm fire at Organic Valley Creamery prompts evacuations
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MCMINNVILLE, Oregon (KPTV) — A three-alarm fire at the Organic Valley Creamery in McMinnville prompted evacuations on Tuesday. Fire crews are still at the scene and could be until Wednesday morning.
McMinnville Fire Department responded to the fire at the creamery located at 700 Northeast Highway 99W just before 1:30 p.m.
MMFD asked for residents within a ¼ to 1/2 a mile radius from the creamery to evacuate due to an ammonia inside the creamery. Evacuation orders have since been lifted.
Firefighters say the ammonia that is used to cool the dairy likely burned off and didn’t get into the larger tanks which was the initial concern. Given the heat, metal roofing and concrete fire officials say flames will smolder for a long time.
A fire official told FOX 12 the damage could be upwards of 40 to 50 million dollars.
Organic Valley issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they’re grateful no one was hurt and that their main concerns are for their employees, first responders and the community.
The company said they don’t know the full extent of the damage and that there will be a thorough investigation into what happened.
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