Dust Collector Fire at Vegetable Dehydration Plant

A fire ignited inside of a dust collector early Friday morning at the Natural Blend vegetable dehydration plant in Farmville, NC, according to a report by a local television news station. 

Crews responded to the facility after the blaze started in the equipment at about 1:15 a.m., coverage by WITN said. The flames were extinguished in about an hour and a half. 

Workers attempted to douse the flames prior to the arrival of firefighters. No injuries were reported during the incident. 

The $16 million Natural Blend plant opened in Farmville in 2014 to dehydrate locally produced sweet potatoes, Pitt County Development Commission said in a release announcing the start of operations at the site. 

Natural Blend’s 27,000-sq-ft facility contains two storage silos, a produce washing station, two commercial grade dicers, two large industrial dryers, and a staging area for final products, the firm’s parent company, Ham Farms, states on its website. The site can process 30,000 lb/hr of product and produces about 120,000 lb/day of finished products. 

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