An explosion tonight rocked Birdsong Peanut Co.'s buying point warehouse as the fire spread throughout the metal building that stored more than 25,000 bushels of the highly flammable commodity.
Greenwood firefighters have been pursuing a defensive attack against the fire since it started shortly before 7 a.m. today, steadily pouring water onto the top of the warehouse to try to cool it down, but they were unable to keep it from spreading to the rear, where the explosion occurred at about 8:30 p.m.
Fire Chief Marcus Banks has said that peanut dust is highly explosive.
The Taxpayers Channel, which first reported the explosion, said that it caused electric power to be briefly interrupted in various parts of the city.
The fire started in the structure on Cypress Avenue shortly before 7 a.m. today and grew in volume as the day progressed. It could be seen tonight from miles away at its most intense stages.
Greenwood Fire Department trucks continue to try and control a fire at the Birdsong Peanut Co.’s Greenwood buying point warehouse on Cypress Avenue. The fire was reported at a little before 7 a.m. today and continued to burn late into the evening.
Banks said that the cause of the fire was not known but that a call to the company’s Georgia headquarters indicated a total loss on the inventory inside the building — more than 25,000 bushels of peanuts.
County tanker trucks from Money, Schlater and Itta Bena supplied extra water to fight the fire. Banks said some volunteers from the county joined in the effort to keep the fire under control.
Banks said employees had tried removing some of the peanuts from inside, but the company was concerned about the safety of its personnel and halted that effort.
There have been no injuries reported as a result of the fire.
Banks said earlier in the day that given the intensity of the fire and the hazards of trying to combat it, all his crews could do was keep pumping water onto the structure from the outside, trying to cool things off and keep the fire from spreading.
For more coverage of the effects of the fire, see Sunday’s Commonwealth.
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
