THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170418
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 24 lines
Suffolk fire officials released the results of an investigation into the cause of a fire Monday at Tidewater Blanching Corp.
A foreign object - perhaps a rock or piece of metal - apparently got into the heating chamber of a cooker where peanuts were being roasted. An arc caused by the object ignited the combustible peanut oil and skins, said Fire Marshal H.R. Parker. The fire spread to the surrounding production equipment and building insulation.
Parker said the fire caused $1 million in damage to the County Street plant and equipment, which were valued at $3.8 million. Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to an attached warehouse that held 800,000 pounds of raw peanuts. The warehouse and contents were valued at more than $1 million.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB