A Puget Sound Fire investigator has determined that a fire in a deep fryer at Kent’s Conagra food processing plant Friday night in the 6300 block of South 190th Street was accidental.
All of the 70 employees were able to escape safely. There were no reported injuries.
The fire was reported to 911 at 10:50 p.m, and resulted in a response from Puget Sound Fire as well as the Tukwila Fire Department and Renton Regional Fire Authority.
Firefighters found flames coming from the large machine, reaching up to the ceiling of the two-story building. The automatic sprinkler system had activated and held the fire in check until firefighters were able to fully extinguish it, Puget Sound Fire reported.
Conagra had a comprehensive accountability system in place and was able to quickly determine that everyone had evacuated the building.
At least a portion of the company will be shut down for an unknown period of time while the cleanup takes place. The damage is estimated at $500,000, Puget Sound Fire said.
Chicago-based Conagra has about 40 locations, employs more than 13,000 and is an $8 billion company. Conagra’s brands include Healthy Choice, Hunt’s, Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, Alexia, Blake’s, Frontera, Bertolli, P.F. Chang’s and Marie Callender’s.
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