Whiskey warehouse fire - thousands of fish dead
News News blog
Thousands of dead fish have turned up in the Kentucky River - days after a major fire broke out at a whiskey warehouse. But what does a fire in a whiskey warehouse have to do with fish?
The fire broke out at Jim Beam's Woodford County facility in early July 2019. It destroyed 45,000 barrels of whiskey and caused the alcohol to spill into a creek and eventually the Kentucky River. No one was injured in the fire, but the contaminated alcohol caused a bourbon cloud that spread for more than 20 miles in the river.
Kentucky environmental authorities said the alcohol reduced oxygen levels in the water. An emergency response team tracked the plume, which was moving at a rate of about half a mile per hour. "The bacteria in the water are going after the food source, the sugar in the alcohol, depleting the oxygen," said emergency manager Robert Francis. "The fish become distressed and eventually die. The plume has begun moving downstream toward the Ohio River, where it is expected to dissipate."
Cleanup crews used barges to aerate the water and increase oxygen levels in an effort to save any fish left.
