Alan Mauldin
The Moultrie Observer
MOULTRIE —
A facility that provides fruit and vegetable transplants was back in business the day after a Friday fire destroyed two warehouses, the plant operator said Tuesday.
Mobley Plant Co. employees worked throughout the weekend to recover from the fire and fill orders, which may be delayed a few days due to the blaze, Patrick Mobley said.
The Friday afternoon fire destroyed buildings of 8,500 and 12,000 square feet, one of which held plastic trays in which transplanted plants were shipped.
This time a year is not a particularly busy one for the facility, which provides plants for commercial growers.
“Actually as far as our customers and our production, it won’t be a big blow,” Mobley said. “I’m going to struggle for some trays here. ”
A fire official said an employee who put chlorine in a used container caused a chemical reaction which sparked the blaze. Firefighters initially thought a piece of equipment outside had caught on fire and engulfed the building containing the plastic trays.
The smoldering trays brought firefighters back to the site several times over the weekend to knock out hot spots.
If a third building near the two that were lost had gone up in flames, production would have been knocked out, Mobley said.
“The volunteer firefighters did a great job,” he said. “By the time they got here, two were on fire. I asked them to save the first warehouse and equipment. They got in there and battled and saved it. With Moultrie bringing in the (ladder) truck, that was the key. My hat’s off to them.”
An employee filling a container with chlorine to clean some equipment accidentally created a chemical spark which in turn ignited a 50-gallon jug of chlorine, Mobley said. Employees tried to fight the blaze with extinguishers.
“I went into the warehouse,” he said. “It was so hot it had ignited those trays.
“That was the main thing, nobody got hurt, and we can replace everything else,” Mobley said.
Mobley declined to give a dollar value for the loss. He said that estimates for removing debris and rebuilding are being taken and work could begin in two to three weeks.
Firefighters returned to the scene on Saturday and Sunday because due to the collapsed structures they could not get water underneath where the plastic trays were smoldering, said Russell Moody, Colquitt County emergency management director.
