Arkansas ? A fire set off a series of explosions at a meatpacking plant on Sunday, destroying the factory and causing an ammonia gas leak that forced 180 people from their homes, authorities in Booneville said. There were no reported injuries.

The fire started about 1 p.m. in a freezer section of the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in the western Arkansas town of 4,000 residents, said Logan County emergency manager Don Fairbanks.

Workers “were doing some welding on some fans,” Fairbanks said. “The welders had put their equipment up and turned around and there was a fire.”

The Cargill Inc.-owned plant, which employs about 800 people and produces more than 2 million pounds of ground beef and steak per week, is the town’s largest employer, according to the Booneville Chamber of Commerce.

Lori Hayes, a human resources manager for the plant, said corporate officials would come to the plant in the coming days to assess the damage. She said it was too early to say whether the plant would be rebuilt.