A Tweet from the McMinnville Police Department raised concerns about ammonia, which initially prompted evacuations. But Pfeiffer says there was small amount of ammonia in a cooling system and what is still on site is expected to be removed by the end of Wednesday.
Details are still scarce when it comes to the cause of the fire.
“The only thing we know right now is the general location of where the fire started, which is in one of our dry warehouses. Other than that, I can’t speculate on the cause,” Pfeiffer said.
Before the fire, the creamery, which is a cooperative, processed roughly 500,000 pounds of milk every day from about 42 local family farms. Since the fire, it’s been a scramble to shuffle things around.
Fire, ammonia release at creamery prompts evacuations Follow Us
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By - Associated Press - Tuesday, April 20, 2021
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) - A fire and related ammonia in the air at the Organic Valley Creamery in McMinnville Tuesday prompted an evacuation order for everyone within a half mile of the business.
McMinnville Police announced the evacuation at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday because of ‘anhydrous ammonia’ being released as the fire burns, KATU-TV reported.
Anhydrous ammonia is a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating odor, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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