Electrical fire halts production, 300 evacuated at the Berry Plastics plant in Evansville, Indiana

The Associated Press

JULY 3, 2015

EVANSVILLE, Ind. 

 

An electrical fire caused the evacuation of about 300 workers from an Evansville plastics factory and halted production for several hours.

Evansville Fire Department District Chief Bob Alexander says a large panel of conduits "blew up" about 8:45 a.m. Friday at the Berry Plastics plant in the city's downtown area.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports (http://bit.ly/1KAPuXs ) no injuries were reported at the plant, which has about 1,800 employees and makes plastic bottles and other products.  Alexander says most damage occurred inside walls and to electrical systems.

Berry Plastics spokeswoman Eva Schmitz says those working at the time were sent home for the day and that production resumed with the factory's second shift at 3 p.m. The fire's cause wasn't immediately known.


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Production at Downtown Berry Plastics plant resumes following fire

3:00 PM, Jul 3, 2015

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Production at a plant owned by one of Evansville's largest employers came to a halt Friday morning when an electrical fire evacuated the building of its 300 employees.

According to Evansville Fire Department District Chief Bob Alexander, a large panel of conduits "blew up" around 8: 45 a.m. at Berry Plastics' Downtown facility.

Dispatch reported the fire at 8:51 a.m. and firefighters were on scene at 8:53 a.m. Crews had the fire extinguished at 10:28 a.m. All employees were accounted and no injuries were reported.

Alexander said crews had difficulty getting water lines to the large open production area on the second floor and ventilating the smoke after the fire had been tapped. Most of the damage occurred in the walls. Electrical systems were also damaged.

According to Berry spokesperson Eva Schmitz, first shift production workers were sent home for the remainder of the day. Schmitz said production will resume starting with second shift at 3 p.m. with the exception of thermo forming and printing, those areas will resume with third shift Saturday at 11 p.m.

Schmitz said the extent of the damage is unknown and an investigation will be conducted to determine the cause. Vectren had shut off electricity to the facility during the fire and restored it around 10:30 a.m.

Berry Plastics is a top five employer in Evansville, according to Schmitz. Their Downtown facility employs 1,800 people. The plastic packaging company has some 15,500 employees and 85 plant locations worldwide.

Berry became a publicly traded company in October 2012

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