Bourbon floods into Kentucky River after fire at Jim Beam warehouse.

“Thousands of gallons of bourbon flooded into a Kentucky River after a Jim Beam warehouse caught fire overnight.

Stunning aerial photographs show the amber liquor slicing across the murky river and mixing in as it moved downstream from the plant in Versailles near Lexington on Wednesday.

The warehouse was devastated and 45,000 barrels of bourbon were destroyed in the blaze that broke out late the night before…”

https://mol.im/a/7209835

Shall We Gather at the River?

45,000 barrels sure sounds like a lot, but one of the articles I read said Beam Suntory has 126 warehouses in Kentucky housing about 3.3 million barrels.

Yes, sounds like a staggering amount, but it is only 1% of JBs supply so not going to affect price or availability.

So this is the Whiskey River Willie sang of!

About this time last year, we were lamenting the 9,000 barrels wasted due to the Bardstown Whiskey warehouse collapse

Whisky flavored Catfish!

^^^ Positive attitude!

Good day to be Baptized.

But that may lead to dancing, and dancing will lead to beer.

(Chondra Pierce)

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Whisky flavored Catfish!

I hope it ends up on the menu at Cracker Barrel (grilled of course)

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:

DITTO!!!!

Think I will drive down and go for a swim.

My gunshow pardner lives right by there. But the fool doesn't drink Bourbon, he prefers Canadian. I'm a bit more pragmatic, preferring free.

Fire departments from the surrounding area have sent empty pumpers and tankers to assist in the rescue effort.

Bourbon and branch water, anyone?

An interesting article from nytimes.com. I was impressed by the environmental protections in place. -

---

_{By Sandra E. Garcia July 3, 2019}

A fire in Kentucky destroyed a warehouse containing about 45,000 barrels of Jim Beam bourbon after officials let the blaze run its course to avoid ethanol contamination in a nearby creek that runs into the Kentucky River.

The fire started around 11 p.m. in Woodford County on Tuesday and was completely out by noon on Wednesday, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.

“The biggest issue we are dealing with is the environmental aspect,” said Drew Chandler, the Woodford County emergency management director. “If we put the fire out, we are going to dump a lot of water on it and that water will be contaminated.”

He said fire officials did not know what had caused the fire, but a spokeswoman for Jim Beam said she believed lightning had sparked it.

“Initial reports suggest the fire resulted from a lightning strike, and we will work with local authorities to confirm the cause and to remediate the impacts,” Emily York, the spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The building is one of 126 barrel warehouses that Jim Beam operates in Kentucky. Altogether, these warehouses hold 3.3 million barrels of bourbon for the Jim Beam brand, Ms. York said.

A standard barrel typically produces 150 to 200 750-milliliter bottles, according to The Louisville Courier Journal. Prices for a standard bottle of Jim Beam vary, but an estimate of $18 per bottle would mean the fire caused roughly $122 million to $162 million in lost revenue.

“The warehouse that was destroyed contained 45,000 barrels of relatively young whiskey from the Jim Beam mash bill,” Ms. York said. “Given the age of the lost whiskey, this fire will not impact the availability of Jim Beam for consumers.”

Firefighters sprayed water on nearby buildings to prevent the fire from spreading, Mr. Chandler said.

“We are letting that distilled spirit burn out so there is less contamination in the runoff,” he said.

Martin Stute, a chairman of the department of environmental science at Barnard College said, “It probably made a lot of sense to let it burn out.”

“Alcohol released into the environment would directly kill or damage organisms, and the decomposition of the alcohol would consume oxygen and possibly kill fish as well,” he added.

Even using fire extinguishers to put out the fire could be harmful, he said.

“Those contain monoammonium phosphate, which causes eye and skin irritation in humans and also affects the respiratory system,” Dr. Stute said.

Letting the fire burn out was the best option, he said, because putting it out would have been difficult given that “alcohol is so extremely flammable and has such a high energy content.”

There is one perk to a bourbon warehouse fire, Mr. Chandler said, and it has nothing to do with drinking it.

“It’s about the best-smelling fire I’ve ever been at,” he said. “It is not as pungent like in a house fire because it is mostly old natural wood and a distilled spirit, so it has a bit of a sweetness to it.”

_{Niraj Chokshi contributed reporting.}

Bisleyblackhawk-any true son of the south knows that catfish is to be fried, and served with hush puppies, doctored up baked beans (to doctor them up you add brown sugar, a bit of onion, some ketchup, mustard, cook in a cast iron skillet until bubbling. To do otherwise might get you kicked out of polite society in my neck of the woods. You can thank me later.

quote:

Those contain monoammonium phosphate, which causes eye and skin irritation in humans and also affects the respiratory system,” Dr. Stute said.

And the volume of smoke produced doesn't?? The retardant in an extinguisher is to be applied to the fuel source of the fire, not the surrounding people