HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Officials at Jacam Chemicals say they will be able to resume operations at their
facility north of Sterling where fire destroyed a building on Thursday.
Laura Snyder is the spokesperson for Jacam and says they plan to re-energize the plant over the weekend and be up and running again Monday. The fire broke out around 9 a.m. Thursday in a building used to produce a clay product for the oil drilling industry. While the material was not explosive or hazardous, it did burn hot enough to cause the large metal building to collapse.
Snyder also wanted to take time to thank firefighters and Jacam employees for their hard work during the incident. No injuries were reported to either firefighters or employees. The state fire marshal’s office was out investigating the fire Friday, but no cause has been determined at this time. The fire did cause a small group of families and one business to evacuate, but all were allowed to return Thursday as the fire subsided.
Jacam does plan to rebuild that area of the plant and will move the six employees displaced from their jobs by the fire to other duties.