By Julie Ingwersen
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A fire overnight at a Tyson Food (NYSE:) poultry plant in Camilla, Georgia, killed one person and injured several others, the company said in a statement Friday.
Tyson, the largest U.S. meat company by revenue, is working closely with local authorities to determine the cause of the fire, the statement said.
“At this time we are still gathering the facts,” a Tyson spokesperson said in the statement, adding, “we are conducting a full investigation into the cause of the fire.”
A poultry workers union said one person was trapped under rubble after a boiler explosion that occurred at the Camilla facility between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. EST.
In addition, several union members were “severely burned,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), said in a statement. The union said it represents more than 15,000 poultry workers in the southern United States, including about 1,600 workers at Tyson’s Camilla plant.
A rebound in Tyson’s chicken business helped the company beat Wall Street expectations for fourth-quarter earnings in November, offsetting losses in the beef sector.
Tyson has closed six U.S. chicken plants since early 2023, as well as a pork plant in Iowa and a beef and pork plant in Emporia, Kansas, laying off thousands of workers.
