Jim Beam fire threatens 40,000 bourbon barrels in Kentucky

A Jim Beam warehouse in Kentucky caught fire this week, putting about 40,000 barrels of bourbon at risk of burning.

Two warehouses at the Jim Beam facility caught fire Tuesday afternoon, Woodford County Emergency Management director Drew Chandler told the Louisville Courier Journal. 

He said that one warehouse first caught fire and spread to the other warehouse, but crews were able to extinguish the fire at the second warehouse. One building continued to burn into Wednesday, and Chandler predicted that crews will need up to eight hours to put out the blaze.

Firefighters in Kentucky are trying to extinguish a burning Jim Beam warehouse that is filled with about 45,000 barrels of bourbon. https://t.co/gEHGQqV0OE pic.twitter.com/wBIayOZEXp

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) July 3, 2019

{mosads}”I was standing 100 yards away, and it’s hot,” Chandler said. “[Crews] can’t get close enough.”

He added that no injuries were reported and it was not clear what caused the fire.

“With the bourbon spirits, there’s just a lot of material to burn,” he also told the newspaper. “You can’t throw enough water on it to knock [the flames] down.”

A spokesperson for Beam Suntory, which owns Jim Beam, told the Courier Journal that the company is “working on a statement” about the fire.