A thick plume of black smoke billowed from the Leelanau Fruit processor plant in Bingham Township on Saturday.
“I thought the whole thing was going to burn down,” Bingham Township resident Victor Barajas said.
Barajas commended first responders for having the fire under control and making significant progress in extinguishing the fire within 15 minutes of its start.
At 1:58 p.m., a fire was reported inside the building, according to the dispatch record.
The back part of the plant was on fire in the steel building with fiberglass insulation that reportedly housed ammonia, acetylene, and propane, with additional reports of fire on the roof, according to the dispatch report
Leelanau Fruit released the following statement after the fire:
“We are grateful to report that no one was injured. Damage to the facility appears to be limited, though the full extent will not be known until inspections and assessments are completed. We are deeply thankful for the swift actions of our employee on site, and for the outstanding work of the responding fire departments in protecting both our people, our processing plant, and our community.
At this time, operations at the plant remain under review as we assess next steps. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.”
The Suttons Bay-Bingham Township Fire Department requested a ladder from Leland and Traverse City, and as many “tankers as they can get.”
Grand Traverse County called for a hazmat team on scene in response to ammonia.
Cherryland Electric called and offered to shut off power remotely, and was told it didn’t need to be shut off immediately.
The area around the plant is known to have a sulfur smell.
No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, according to officials.
Firefighters from Suttons Bay, Traverse City, Northport, Elmwood Township, Leland, and Cedar were called to the scene.
The Grand Traverse HazMat unit also responded to the scene.
Read the full story on Thursday!
