Bourbon in rivers and ethanol in the air: Jim Beam whiskey warehouses burn in Kentucky

In American Frankfort, Kentucky, there was a fire in the warehouse of the world's best-selling brand of bourbon Jim Beam. The flame broke out on the night of July 3 and has not subsided to this day. Environmentalists at the same time recommend not to fight it for at least another day, since burning vapors, in their opinion, will cause less damage to the environment than extinguishing a fire with water.

To what consequences the fire has already managed to lead, read in our material.

On the night of July 3, a fire broke out at the Jim Beam warehouses located in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The causes of the fire are still unknown. According to some reports, the flames in warehouses where millions of liters of alcohol are stored could have flared up due to a lightning strike.

Firefighters from four districts fought the raging fire at once. According to them, "the flames rose straight up to the heavens," and the temperature in that place was so high that even the headlights on fire trucks melted. Rescuers managed to curb the fire, but they allowed it to blaze for at least another day.

It should be noted that thousands of liters of bourbon have already fallen into the Kentucky River. Environmentalists are confident that this will cause significant damage to the local flora and fauna. Due to the decrease in oxygen levels in the water, a large number of fish and other river inhabitants will die.

It is known that Suntory Holdings Ltd., which owns the Jim Beam brand, operates more than 120 similar warehouses with alcohol. The destroyed whiskey accounted for only 1% of the total amount of its reserves. Therefore, as the representative of the company assures, the incident will not affect the availability of Jim Beam for consumers in any way, even though the damage has reached "several hundred million dollars."