Fire at local brewery is
quickly put out by owner

Published 1:56 pm Monday, July 21, 2025

MOULTRIE — A fire caused minor damage to local brewery Bandwagon Brewing Company’s roof last Tuesday afternoon.

According to Moultrie Fire Chief Chad Kilgore, “It appears to have started around the boiler that’s on the roof. There was minor damage to the roof and ceiling.”

According to an employee, the fire started above the barrels in the brew room, right where the boiler is. Initially, owner Bill Kimmerly smelled some smoke and the he saw some flames coming down.

“There was a small combustion and the flames started spreading really quick,” the employee said.

Kimmerly used a hose that was in the room to put the fire out and the employee said that he was lucky to get the fire out before it spread more.

“And there are gas lines right there, so it could have been much worse,” the employee said.

She said they don’t know exactly what caused the fire but they were told that it could have been a piece of debris on the boiler, which wasn’t on at the time, that caught fire because of the hot sun.

After the fire, the brewery’s “go-to-handyman” and “behind-the scenes hero” who’s been helping at the brewery since day one, according to a Facebook post on the brewery’s page, repaired the damage.

“He cut out the fire-damaged sections, cleaned up all the soot, hosed everything down, and even repaired a massive hole in our ceiling — all while working under the scorching sun on a brutally hot roof,” the post stated.

“Within 48 hours, we went from having a 6’x6’ hole in the ceiling to being open,” the employee said.

“With help from our amazing team and some of our dedicated community members, the rest of the debris was cleared — all in under 48 hours — making it possible for us to reopen faster than we ever thought possible,” the Facebook page also stated.