Fire at National Beef Facility in Liberal, Kansas

Firefighters were called to the National Beef Packing Co. facility at 9:52 p.m. Wednesday evening for a reported box trailer fire, according to the Liberal Police department.

First responders and fire units arrived to find a well-advanced fire involving four box trailers and two container trailers.  Also involved was the multi-story boxed beef storage and load out building.  Plant representatives confirmed to responders that all employees were safely exited and accounted for.

The fire was officially declared under control at 1:06 a.m. Officials have not released a damage estimate, but the incident was not expected to cause a major disruption to overall beef industry production.

In a statement to media, National Beef said there were no injuries and that production would be suspended on Friday, March 22, with the facility returning to normal operations Monday, March 25.

The area of fire origin has been determined with reasonable certainty, according to Liberal Police.  The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. The plant has a daily fed beef harvest capacity of 6,000 head.

One local news outlet said the company announced a four-hour late start for the fabrication and kill floor departments on Thursday.