It will take days for investigators to determine what may have started this morning's fire at a animal feed processing plant at 20 Howard St., Batavia, said City Fire Chief Josh Graham.
The call came in at 7:47 a.m. and Batavia patrol officers arrived on scene first and confirmed smoke and flames, which led to an immediate second alarm. When the first fire crew arrived he said, they realized the fire was going to require more resources so a third alarm was called.
It took hours to fight the fire, which as of 2 p.m. on Saturday, wasn't completely extinguished as firefighters worked to extinguish hot spots.
"We just started now the investigation," Graham said. "The investigators went in to look around and get an initial look at this. They're gonna work on that probably for the next four or five days to try to figure it all out. There's going to be a massive amount of information to look at."
Baskin Livestock owner Bill Baskin said he is baffled by the fire.
"This is the last place I expected something like this," Baskin said.
There have been a few fires over the years at Baskin's other facility on Creek Road, Batavia. They are generally explainable because of the large furnace used to dry food items—such as discarded baked goods—which are ground into feed for cattle.
The Howard Street facility processes dry dog food into feed for hogs and heat isn't used, Baskin said. Yesterday's work crew finished at 2 p.m. on Friday and when an employee stopped by the facility at 7 a.m. on Saturday, there was no sign of fire, Baskin said.
Baskin said the two facilities are segregated to ensure the dog food doesn't contaminate the cattle feed. Spreading mad cow disease would be damaging if that were to happen, Baskin said.
On Saturday afternoon, an excavator was brought in to move debris so firefighters could attack hot spots. Graham said piles of debris would be moved, the hotspot dealt with, and then debris moved to that spot to deal with the next hotspot until the job is complete. Even then, Graham expects calls for rekindles over the next few days.
The buildings at 20 Howard were originally constructed in 1946 and it was once a fertilizer plant. The three structures on the property were a combined 82,257 square feet.
Agencies responding to the fire: City Fire, Town of Batavia Fire, Stafford, Elba, Mercy EMS, Office of Emergency Management, Batavia PD, Salvation Army, National Grid, Sewer & Water, and National Fuel. Fill-in companies for departments that responded: Alexander, Bergen, Albion, and East Pembroke.
Photos by Howard Owens.
