VERSAILLES, KY. (THECOUNT) — The environmental fallout of the Jim Beam bourbon warehouse fire continues along the Kentucky River, as thousands of dead fish are now floating downstream.
Reports say, the toxic water used to extinguish flames at the Woodford County warehouses trickled down into a nearby creek and eventually the river.
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The Environmental Protection Agency is now the lead investigator in terms of the environmental impact this will have on the ecosystem. The results are starting to show Friday, as one can see hundreds of dead fish along the river in Franklin County. That number will only increase, reports WKYT.
People nearby the river will notice a pungent smell as a result of the fish kill, but you can still access waterways. The state warms fishers to not eat affected fish.
Kim Strohmeier, who lives on the river, says this is something he has never seen before in her life.
“I don’t believe I would want to swim in it right now. In a few days when all this passes, it will be fine,” Strohmeier said. “A lot of fisherman in both the Elkhorn Creek and the river here…folks aren’t going to have much success fishing in the river in the next few weeks”
Drinking water is not expected to be impacted, but it may be possible for some with an acute sense of smell to detect a bourbon odor.
Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon drinkers everywhere are mourning the passing of 45,000 barrels of the sweet stuff after it went up in smoke during a Kentucky warehouse blaze Tuesday night.
Firefighters are currently trying to extinguish the fire burning at the Jim Beam warehouse in Woodford County, Kentucky. Crews say the fire is likely to burn for “6 to 8 hours.”
Woodford County Emergency Management Director Drew Chandler told local news outlets that two barrel warehouses caught fire late Tuesday possible from a lightning strike.
Chandler says one warehouse was still burning and that crews would likely need “a good six to eight hours” to finish fighting the fire, reports WESH.
“With the bourbon spirits, there’s just a lot of material to burn,” Chandler said. “You can’t throw enough water on it to knock it down.”
No injuries have been reported at the warehouse located at, 3675 McCracken Pike, in Versailles, KY.
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Geo quick facts: Versailles is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States and is located near Lexington. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,568 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Woodford County – Wikipedia.