Around 3 a.m. Wednesday, a fire destroyed a fertilizer and chemical building at CHS Farmers Alliance in Mitchell, S.D., and blanketed much of the town with the choking smell of smoke.
The Mitchell Fire Department responded to the structure fire at about 3 a.m. on Elevator Road in western Mitchell. Firefighters and law enforcement found a building billowing with smoke and flames. The structure is owned by CHS Farmers Alliance and is just south of the main elevator area.
Jim Morken, general manager for CHS Farmers Alliance in Mitchell, says the facility is used for storage of crop protection and other agronomic products, typically herbicides, insecticides and pesticides.
He says the building was badly damaged in the fire, but a cost estimate was not yet known.
Mitchell Assistant Fire Chief Paul Morris says nobody was injured in the fire, and crews closely monitored the site throughout the day and overnight.
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Morris says the weather -- with winds gusting to nearly 40 mph from the northwest -- cooperated to help dissipate the smoke from the city.
"We don't have any immediate risk," he said Wednesday morning. "Fortunately, the wind is strong enough and is sort of lifting up the smoke away from the city, so it's worked out pretty well."
Despite the strong smell that remained after the fire, Morken also says there was no threat to community members.
"Because safety of our community, our employees and the environment are always our priority, we have engaged an environmental firm to monitor air in the surrounding area, but at this time we do not believe there is any risk to area residents," he says. "We want people not to be overly concerned. We don't feel there are any hazards."
He adds that officials think all of the product was contained inside the structure, which is equipped with a dike, or berm, which Morken likened to a shallow bathtub. He says it's meant to contain the product inside in case of emergency events -- like a fire.
"It's designed for exactly what it's doing," he says.
That's partly what complicated fighting the fire, though, Morken says. Adding too much water would raise the product levels over the protective dike.
"Then you've got bigger problems," he says.
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In cooperation with the Mitchell Fire Division, Morken says CHS officials decided early during the incident to let the building burn, since it likely couldn't be saved. It's also why the site was still smoldering late Wednesday afternoon, Morken says.
"We want to make sure the people in town understand, the reason there is still smoke coming off the site is because we can't use a lot of water on the site," he says.
He referenced the smell, which he likened to a burnt plastic odor, and notes it would probably still linger with some of the residual smoke as the site burns itself out.
"We appreciate everybody's patience," Morken says.
Since the site smoldered throughout the day, Morris says they had not yet been able to start investigating the cause. Morris adds that even once the site cools, chemicals and other debris will need to be cleared before it's safe for investigators to enter.
Bystanders noticed the fire and called it in. Morris says the fire was pretty well engulfed when firefighters arrived and firefighters fought in close proximity to the fire until part of the building's roof was waving in the wind and later caved in.
"At that time, we decided we'd let the building burn itself out," he says.
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