If you’re a fan of bourbon you may want to look away, because a Jim Beam warehouse in Kentucky has burnt down. With it, 45,000 barrels of bourbon have been lost.
Footage of the blaze shows fire tearing through the structures of the building. It generated so much heat that the fire reportedly melted the headlights attached to some fire engines.
A massive fire in a Jim Beam warehouse in Kentucky has destroyed 45,000 barrels of bourbon, devastating whiskey drinkers and environmentalists alike.
The fire broke out on Tuesday night (local time) and continued well into Wednesday, raising major concerns for the environmental impact of the burnt bourbon.
An emergency clean up crew were brought in to mitigate the effects of the blaze, as the contaminated sludge ran off into a nearby creek that flows into the Kentucky river.
John Mura, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet said the run-off could have a detrimental effect on the health of the river system, with a “serious impact on marine life”. He also said it may create “low dissolved oxygen levels”, resulting in fish deaths.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, however, the distilling company has disclosed that the burnt bourbon was “relatively young whiskey” and had not yet reached maturity for bottling. Therefore, it will not affect the availability of bourbon for Jim Beam consumers.
The amount of destroyed whiskey made up approximately 1% of Beam’s bourbon inventory.
