Date: September 12, 2018
Location: Garden City, Kansas (USA)
Address: 330 US-83, 67846
Type: Dust Fire
Fuel: Milk Dust
Industry: Milk Powder Production (Food Processing)
Equipment: Dryer
Company: Dairy Farmers of America
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: $1 Million
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to the company website, Dairy Farmers of America is a national dairy farmer cooperative consisting of 14,500 members. It opened the facility in Garden City, which produces skim and whole milk powder nonfat dry milk powder and cream, in November 2017. It processes four million lbs of milk per day from 12 member farms in southwest Kansas.
Incident Description:
On September 17, 2018, Powder & Bulk Solids reported a dryer fire at a milk powder production plant in Garden City, Kansas. It started at around 4:30 p.m., forcing employees to evacuate. The Garden City Fire Chief said that crews saw flames coming from the top of the plant’s dryer structure, where milk is dried into powder, when they arrived.
The firefighters battled the flames for about four hours. Afterward, production was suspended at the plant until repairs could be made to over $1 million worth of damage. No injuries were reported and an investigation into the fire’s cause has been opened by the Kansas State Fire Marshal.
Sources:
Powder & Bulk Solids
