Free State Brewing Co. fire ruled accidental / LJWorld.com

Archive for Monday, October 6, 2008

Fire damage at a brewing facility in east Lawrence is estimated at one million dollars. Investigators say an electrical malfunction sparked this fire.

By George Diepenbrock

October 6, 2008, 10:55 a.m. Updated October 6, 2008, 6:10 p.m.

Fire delays expansion plans for Free State Brewery

Just days before the start of a major expansion project, Free State Brewing Company's east Lawrence brewing and bottling facility is damaged in a two-alarm fire early Sunday morning. Enlarge video

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Investigators have classified Sunday's fire at Free State Brewing Co.'s eastern Lawrence facility as accidental due to an electrical malfunction.

"It definitely had the characteristics of an electrical fire," said Chuck Magerl, Free State's proprietor. "We knew it wasn't an issue of any accumulated debris or any flammables or anything of that nature."

The fire department estimated the fire caused at least $1 million in structural and equipment damage at the building the company leases in the 1900 block of Moodie Road. Investigators worked with an electrical engineer to identify the ignition source as a loose connection to an air compressor that helped burn a room the size of a small office.

The compressor was plugged into an industrial outlet, but fire investigators did not determine if the defect came during installation, the use of the outlet or if it was a problem with the product.

"That's what the ignition source was for the fire, and so our determination of that is where we will stop our investigation," said Division Chief Rich Barr, fire marshal with Lawrence Douglas County Fire & Medical.

Magerl said the company spent most of Monday working with insurance representatives. The fire department turned the building back over to them late Monday afternoon.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze early Sunday on the western side of the brewing and bottling facility - a major expansion project for the downtown Lawrence company. It took firefighters fewer than two hours to get the fire under control.

Barr said firefighters were careful because that type of steel or metal roof on the building - a bowstring truss roof - has a tendency to become deformed during a fire. But firefighters were able to open up the building and extinguish the fire with water. No firefighters were injured, and the building was unoccupied.

For months, Free State has been overhauling the 12,000-square-foot facility to expand the company's production capacity. The site, in the former A.B. Coker Building, had been renovated with everything from new floors to new plumbing and electrical work.

Free State will continue brewing at its downtown and restaurant site. As for the expansion facility in eastern Lawrence, Magerl said the process needs to run its course.

"This isn't something that we want to make any rush judgments on," he said. "The decisions we make here are for something that can be of value to use the next 20 to 25 years. As overwhelming and urgent as this process is, we still want to make sure that we're not acting in haste."

Fire at Free State Brewing facility

Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at the Free State Brewing facility, 1927 Moodie Road in east Lawrence.

Discussion

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6 October 2008
at 11:22 a.m.

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smitty (Anonymous) says…

Wonder which electrical contractor did the work? It wasn't all that long ago that the new electrical work was at fault for the bowling alley fire. Business owners do the new work to eliminate this type of hazard. What's up??
6 October 2008
at 2:28 p.m.

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Confrontation (Anonymous) says…

I don't know about this whole “accident” thing. A poster on here said that they knew someone who knew someone who went to school with their third cousin, twice removed, who thought they heard someone say something about this whole mess. Weird.
6 October 2008
at 2:36 p.m.

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ilovelucy (Anonymous) says…

Leave it lay and just concentrate on getting the new facility up to speed. Thank God noone was hurt or killed!Good luck, FSB! Love your beer…
6 October 2008
at 2:53 p.m.

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TNPlates (Anonymous) says…

Electrical? I figured it was sparked by the 19th/Barker Roundabout.
6 October 2008
at 2:59 p.m.

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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…

Hey, TNPlates— do you drive a cadillac?
6 October 2008
at 3:48 p.m.

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packs_of_wild_dogzz (Anonymous) says…

I'm sure the roundabout at 19th and Barker had something to do with it. However, my bet is that it's more likely related to the roundabout being built off the turnpike exit. You know how those things are.
6 October 2008
at 3:50 p.m.

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doc1 (Anonymous) says…

I put the blame on the T.

6 October 2008
at 4:15 p.m.

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monkfellow (Anonymous) says…

Nah, it's the fault of theevilgeorgebushandtheequallyviledickcheneyandprobablyjohnmccainandtheforcesofevilintheGOP.
6 October 2008
at 4:29 p.m.

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srj (Anonymous) says…

Good luck getting any money from insurance companies at this point and time. And getting insured again will be hard.
6 October 2008
at 4:44 p.m.

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MeAndFannieLou (Anonymous) says…

And is it any coincidence that it's on *Moodie* road…hmmmm?
6 October 2008
at 5:09 p.m.

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toe (Anonymous) says…

This is a tragedy of malt proportions.
6 October 2008
at 5:11 p.m.

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BaxterC (Anonymous) says…

Nooo, not the beer! Anything but the beer!
6 October 2008
at 6:05 p.m.

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freestatehawk (Anonymous) says…

Bad news, bit it could have been worse. A friend texted me last night when the original story was posted, saying “Free State Brewery catches fire”. I almost had a heart attack. I guess I can drink that growler of Octoberfest instead of selling it on ebay.
6 October 2008
at 9:09 p.m.

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Dejacrew423 (Anonymous) says…

So it wasn't Carry Nation after all. Well that's a relief.
6 October 2008
at 9:30 p.m.

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MikeJHawk (Anonymous) says…

I am sure it was the smoking ban.