Kraft plant damaged by blaze

A three-alarm fire caused by a power outage during a thunderstorm yesterday morning damaged part of the Kraft Foods Inc. plant in Henrico County.

Just after 1 a.m., the Henrico Division of Fire received a call about fire shooting through the roof of the plant on South Laburnum Avenue. About 60 Henrico firefighters worked the blaze, Henrico Fire Capt. Andrew Baxter said.

The 125 plant employees working at the site at the time of the fire were evacuated, Baxter said. No one was injured.

The fire was marked under control at 4:22 a.m., but fire officials remained at the plant until 2:30 p.m., checking hot spots.

Officials believe a conveyor belt stopped because of a power outage. The cookies that were in an oven, however, were still being heated. The fire began when the power returned.

„As the cookies came out, they got sprayed with some type of vegetable oil, like a coating,“ Baxter said. „You had hot oil and burning cookies, which resulted in a pretty dramatic fire.“

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Company contractors and engineers were assessing the damage yesterday, Baxter said. An estimate of the damage was not available.

The plant, formerly a Nabisco facility, makes cookies and crackers under brand names such as Ritz, Nilla, Chips Ahoy! and Oreo.

A portion of the plant was shut down yesterday, but workers were expected back today, according to The Associated Press. – Osita Iroegbu

Source: timesdispatch.com