Dole plant in Atwater evacuated after bomb threat

The Dole Packaged Foods plant on Bellevue Road in Atwater was evacuated Monday due to a reported bomb threat, law enforcement officials confirmed.

Authorities were called to the plant at 7916 Bellevue Road at 10:04 a.m. Sheriff Vern Warnke said an unidentified man made the threat during a telephone call. Investigators were told the voice sounded like that of a male in his 50s.

No injuries were reported.

The buildings were searched by a dog from the Merced Police Department, Capt. Bimley West said. Two law enforcement agencies in Mariposa County sent dogs to help, Warnke said.

The 45-acre facility employs some 700 full-time employees and about 1,400 seasonal workers, the company reported in 2013. The facility freezes and packs more than 200 million pounds of fruit each year, making it the largest fruit-freezing facility in the United States as of 2013, the company reported.

The plant has been operated by multiple companies since it opened in the 1960s, according to Sun-Star archives.

Dole is the fifth-largest employer in Merced County, officials said Monday.

Bob Barnhouse, the Atwater plant’s vice president and general manager, said an unidentified man called the plant about 9:45 a.m.

“He said there’s a bomb in the plant and then hung up,” Barnhouse said. “We’re not sure where it came from. You have to take these things seriously.”

Barnhouse said employees were kept in the parking lot throughout the day. He said the search concluded about 4:20 p.m. and nothing was found.

“We’re going to get everything cleaned up and try to get in about four to six hours worth of work tonight,” Barnhouse said. “That’s the goal, at least.”

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Dole plant in Atwater evacuated after bomb threat."