Fire Erupts at ADM Soy Processing Plant

A fire broke out at the ADM plant in downtown Kershaw, SC, on the evening of December 3.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Lancaster County firefighters responded to reports of fire in the plant’s soybean processing facility.

Firefighters from several departments joined in to fight the flames.

The plant is owned by Archer Daniels Midland and is a food processing company that has been in the Kershaw area for decades and processes soybeans.

Fire officials believe the fire began in an area that dries the products. At the scene, Kershaw Fire Chief Larry Ammons showed a local WSOC-TV reporter the path of the fire.

“The fire appears to have started over here; we’re trying to control it now."

It was expected to take hours before any investigators can get into the building and try to determine what led to the blaze. Crews continued to cool off the hot spots in the building by dumping water on them.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation as authorities working to determine the origin and circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Kershaw Fire Department's swift and effective response resulted in the successful containment of the fire by 8 p.m., and crews remained onsite as a precautionary measure.

There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident.

According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce, 11-50 people work at the soybean processing plant.