Fire breaks out at Quincy ADM plant

QUINCY (WGEM) - Quincy fire crews responded to the ADM Animal Nutrition plant early Friday morning after a machine caught fire.

Tri-Township Fire Department Chief Tom Bentley said crews said got the call around 2:00 a.m. and responded to 1000 North 30th Street.

He said the fire took place in a hopper machine containing feed pellets that overheated. Bentley said they worked with the ADM maintenance department to put out the fire.

“They take some compartments off of the bottom of it and we just dump what’s in the bottom of it and pull it out and then we have to hose it all down on the ground in there,” he said.

Bentley says machines like that can get overheated when dust collects in the vents, which can cause fires.

Fire officials said that investigators are still working to determine an official cause for the fire as of seven Friday morning, but damage was confined to the pelletizer’s cooler and a section of ductwork leading to the roof.

Fire officials say the machine will likely be up and running again by the weekend, as the fire did not appear to have done much damage.

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