A Tyson plant in Madison, Nebraska, had to shut down temporarily after a fire broke out in its production area Sunday morning, injuring two workers.
Tyson said the plant will have limited operations for the rest of the week as the company assesses the damage and begins repairs.
Meanwhile, the pigs have been shipped to other plants to avoid shortages in the U.S. pork supply. Hogs are backed up on farms while Tyson works to resume normal operations at the facility.
“During this time, we are diverting livestock normally received at our Madison plant to other Tyson Foods pork facilities and do not expect disruption in our ability to meet our customer needs,” Tyson said. The company added it would “gradually resume production” at the stricken plant.
There were about 60 employees at work when the fire broke out. A Tyson spokesperson said the plant was immediately evacuated when the fire broke out around 9 a.m.
Madison Assistant Fire Chief Paul Kellen said firefighters had the blaze under control by noon. They remained at the scene until 2:30 p.m. putting out hot spots.
The Madison Fire Department said two workers were injured and taken to a nearby hospital but were later released.
Officials determined this was an interior fire, with smoke visible from beyond the facility. The cause of the fire remains as yet unknown at this time. The state fire marshal and Tyson officials will continue their investigation in the coming days.
Madison Mayor Robert Fite said multiple nearby fire departments were called to help the city’s volunteer firefighters put out the blaze.
The major did not identify the cause of the fire or the locations of the other facilities and farms the pigs were taken to.
Although not one of Tyson’s largest plants, the Madison plant represents about 2 percent of daily U.S. hog slaughtering.
“[Tyson is] able to absorb anything like this and keep the animal flow going,” said Al Juhnke, executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association. “We have farmers that need to deliver pigs in a timely manner.”
According to Steve Meyer, lead economist for Partners for Production Agriculture, the Madison facility slaughters 8,250 hogs a day on average. The plant employs 1,200 people and typically operates a one-shift-a-day regimen to process pigs.
Tyson Foods is the world’s second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork and employs roughly 142,000 people.
Reuters contributed to this article.
