A fire was reported at a Nutrien Ag Solutions facility in Leoti, Kan., on Tuesday afternoon, April 19. Those in the immediate vicinity were evacuated, but were allowed back in their homes Tuesday night.
“There was a fire at the Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Leoti branch on April 19, 2022, and we cooperated with emergency responders,” a company spokesperson told Green Markets. “Fortunately, no injuries have been reported. We will continue to assess the situation and should know more once the investigation concludes.”
Local firefighters answered the call, and the Ford County Regional Hazardous Materials Team was deployed to remove hazardous materials. Fire Chief Charlie Hughes said the fire was contained to a forklift and nonhazardous materials, according to KSN, a local television station.
A Feb. 28 fire at the Nutrien Ag Solutions facility in Sunnyside, Wash., in the Yakima Valley, destroyed a 13,000-square-foot storage building at the site and prompted the evacuation of residents within a half-mile radius of the plant (GM March 4, p. 1). The local fire chief said the building contained 1.75 million pounds of “mixed components for fertilizer,” including sulfate of potash, muriate of potash, MESZ, ammonium sulfate, urea, and boron.
At the time, the cause of that fire was not determined, however, workers at the plant reportedly identified a smoldering supply of sulfur – part of approximately 200 tons of sulfur at the site – that had been unloaded in a concrete bin in the building earlier in the day.