An in-house sprinkler system, backed up by efforts from local firefighters, pevented a potentially disastrous situation for Habersham County’s largest employer. A fire broke out early Sunday inside Fieldale Farm’s main processing plant on Industrial Boulevard in Cornelia.
Around 4:39 a.m. on May 8, firefighters from Cornelia, Demorest, and Baldwin responded to the report of an alarm sounding and smoke coming from inside the plant. Habersham County Emergency Services also responded to the commercial fire.
When firefighters arrived, they found light smoke coming from inside the main plant. No one was working inside the plant at the time of the fire, says Cornelia Fire Marshal Josh Hazle.
A four-person crew of firefighters entered the plant from the main parking lot side to begin locating the source of the smoke as other firefighters looked around the outside of the building. Within approximately five minutes, Hazel says the inside crew found a small fire on a conveyor belt in the plant’s poultry processing area.
“Five sprinkler heads had activated and most of the fire was out,” says Hazle.
After Fieldale maintenance arrived and turned off the sprinkler system and electricity, fire personnel finished the job. They extinguished the small remaining fire with an extinguisher.
“Damage was contained to the one piece of equipment and the control wires above it thanks to the sprinkler system,” says Hazle. “The smoke dissipated quickly after the fire was extinguished, and no ventilation was needed.”
Fieldale maintenance and sub-contractors immediately began working to repair the damage so that normal plant operations could resume Monday.
Firefighters determined the fire was caused by a short in a light fixture located about the conveyor belt.
