Taylor Farms Fire: Shelter-in-place order lifted in Salinas
By THOMAS WRIGHT | twright@montereyherald.com | Monterey HeraldPUBLISHED: April 14, 2022 at 7:01 a.m. | UPDATED: April 14, 2022 at 3:00 p.m.
SALINAS — Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders were lifted early Thursday afternoon after a fire that began Wednesday night at a Taylor Farms processing facility in South Salinas led to the potential for an explosion — which could then release a harmful ammonia cloud.
Sam Klemek, deputy Salinas fire chief and incident commander, said during an afternoon news conference that the blaze had been contained and all of the hazardous materials on scene had been secured.
“Our major concern throughout the fire was that it was going to advance into on-site ammonia storage, approximately 35,000 gallons worth,” he said. “That did prompt us to pull back our resources and evaluate the situation.”
More than 22 fire units from across Monterey County responded, as well as an Environmental Protection Agency response team and other agencies such as the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services and the county Health Department. Klemek said the blaze was first reported a little after 7 p.m. at the Taylor Farms facility at 1225 Abbott St. Firefighters arrived within three minutes and found an active fire.
“This fire quickly escalated to four alarms, prompting mutual aid requests from all over Monterey County,” he said. “But we did manage to keep the fire contained to the building of origin.”
The ag industrial area surrounding the facility was quickly evacuated and the shelter-in-place order was issued due to the concern over ammonia gas. Officials were also prepared to close a 1-mile stretch of Highway 101 if the situation escalated.
Cleaning up
While the building was still smoldering in the afternoon, Salinas Fire Department officials transitioned to monitoring and cleaning up the fire Thursday morning, Klemek said, adding that they monitored the blaze with drones throughout the incident.
“Now that the moderate leak has been secured on-site, we’ll be able to get fire crews back in there to start to clean up hotspots and secure the scene,” he said.
Klemek said 85-90% of the building was damaged during the fire. The fire got to the ammonia tanks through openings in the building but the tanks stayed intact. No cause of the fire has been determined, but the blaze started in the center of the facility.
“Initially on-scene, we made contact with plant officials that did report to us that there was some maintenance being performed and perhaps some welding going on in the area of the origin of the fire,” he said. “We’ll be speaking more with those folks who were on-scene, getting some more details but at this point (there is) nothing that indicated foul play or anything like that.”
Stay away
Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig asked the community to stay away from the area of the facility Thursday.
“It is still very much an active scene and we want to let these men and women do their jobs right now,” she said during the news conference.
The Taylor Farms facility that erupted in flames is used to process produce that is harvested from fields in the Salinas Valley. Darin Salden with Taylor Farms said during the news conference that CEO Bruce Taylor met with the presidents of the different divisions of the company all morning to plan on addressing any hardships to an estimated 1,000 workers at the facility.
In a letter to its distribution customers Thursday, Taylor Farms said the facility had been closed for the winter season and the company was in the process of preparing for its seasonal move to Salinas.
“There have been no injuries and onsite employees were evacuated,” Taylor Farms wrote.
The company said it plans to continue operating its Yuma, Arizona, facility that is currently serving its food-service customers.
“Over the next few days and weeks Taylor Farms will be utilizing all of our North American capacity to continue to support our partners with assured supply,” Taylor Farms wrote. “Our total production locations and geographic diversity is our best defense to this scenario. We will work to reassign and support our Salinas foodservice production team this season as we rebuild the facility.”
The newly refurbished Salinas plant opened in 1998 with 40,000 square feet of processing space and now sits at 125,000 square feet, with one whole room dedicated to iceberg blends and another room with lines for the various other leafy greens the company processes.
Related closures
All Salinas Union High School District schools were closed Thursday due to the fire and shelter-in-place order. Salinas City Elementary School District and Alisal Union School District schools are on spring break, but staff was alerted not to report to campuses. The Alisal district migrant program at Chavez Elementary was also closed for the day.
Hartnell College closed its main campus and Alisal campus Thursday and asked employees affected by the fire and shelter-in-place order to work from home if possible.
All high school sporting events in Salinas were postponed Thursday.
With schools in the Salinas Union High School District canceling classes, no buses were allowed out to send teams to sporting events on the road.
“I can smell the smoke from where we live,” North Salinas High athletic director Jean Ashen said. “It doesn’t smell like fire smoke. It smells like chemical smoke.”
Ashen lives in the Creek Bridge area in Salinas. She was asked to not leave her home.
Salinas High athletic director and baseball coach Art Hunsdorfer, who lives in South Salinas, went out early in the morning and he said the smell of smoke was prevalent in the air.
“You can certainly smell the fire, but it has a different smell to it,” Hunsdorfer said. “You can feel your lungs burning a little bit and in your eyes.”
VIDA said its COVID-19 testing sites at the BHC offices on Williams Road would be closed Thursday and Friday, adding that testing site hours for other Salinas locations may have to shift due to the fire and shelter-in-place order.
Health care facilities
Spokeswoman Karina Rusk said the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System was following the shelter-in-place order impacting its hospital and surrounding clinics but it was given the authority for its employees to not shelter in place so it could continue to perform critical hospital services.
Salinas Valley Medical Clinic clinics in the impacted area were closed for the day while most of the outpatient non-urgent procedures and surgeries at the hospital were postponed or rescheduled.
Natividad hospital prepared for the worst and activated a triage alert, preparing for the potential of an influx of patients, while remaining open.
“Breathing high concentrations of ammonia in air can cause immediate burning of the nose, throat and respiratory tract. This can cause lung and airway irritation resulting in the most severe cases of respiratory distress or failure. Inhalation of lower concentrations can cause coughing and eye, nose, and throat irritation,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Craig Walls.
The concern of firefighting crews that prompted evacuations and shelter-in-place orders was the large amount of ammonia that is stored onsite as a cooling agent for the produce. The ammonia helps to keep processing rooms between 34 and 36 degrees.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ammonia is highly toxic. It can severely corrode the lungs, eyes and skin. Exposure to ammonia can be fatal. Ammonia can cause irreversible harm such as blindness and lung problems.
Skin exposure to ammonia can cause chemical burns, thermal burns and frostbite.
When ammonia gas is released, it combines with humidity in the air to form a vapor cloud. Even though anhydrous ammonia gas is lighter than air, an ammonia vapor cloud will often stay near the ground, especially in cold weather. This cloud can travel long distances, putting entire communities at risk.
Ammonia is flammable and can explode — especially when it is mixed with oil — as it is in ammonia refrigeration systems.
Staff writers Dennis L. Taylor, James Herrera, Tess Kenny and John Devine contributed to this story.
