Machinery at Delhi Foster Farms facility catches fire

A small fire erupted at the Foster Farms facility in Delhi Sunday before noon, Merced County-CalFire officials reported.

At about 11:10 a.m. firefighters received a call of “light smoke” coming from the third floor of the chicken feed plant at 14519 Collier Road, said Battalion Chief Baraka Carter. The motor of a pellet mill caught fire, he said, and the fire was out in about 20 minutes.

No injuries were reported.

A “few flames” came out of the gear box of a pellet mill, said Ira Brill, spokesperson for Foster Farms, in an email to the Sun-Star.

It was “not a fire of any material consequence,” Brill said, and in instances like this the fire department is routinely called.

“We are ensuring that the mill is safe and will be restarting the two other mills at the facility shortly,” Brill said.

Firefighters inspected the other floors of the six-story facility to make sure nothing else was impacted by the fire, Carter said.

The damage to the pellet mill was estimated to be $400,000, Carter said.

This story was originally published October 1, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Machinery at Delhi Foster Farms facility catches fire."