Thousands of fish have died after alcohol was found in the Kentucky River during a fire at a Jim Beam warehouse.
The warehouse – which held close to 45,000 barrels of whiskey – went up in flames early this week.
Run-off from firefighters’ hoses ended up in the river while dead fish were seen floating on top of the water, piling up on its banks.
In an attempt to stop the booze/water mixture from ending up in the water, a containment system was set up along with an aeration device being added to attempt to reduce the number of fish dying.
But despite this, thousands of fish are believed to have deceased.
According to the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, the “alcohol plume” in the river is close to 23 miles long and should hit the Ohio River where it will be watered down as it joins the larger river.
While it is not known yet exactly how many fish have died, the Cabinet revealed in a post on Facebook:
“The Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is on the river again today to continue wildlife assessments and fish kill count. Results are pending.”
Kim Strohmeier, local resident, shared with Fox News:
“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.”
“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.”
John Mura, Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet spokesperson said:
“We’re starting to see fish kill, and we think that it’s very likely to get worse.”
The department has previously shared in a statement:
“We continue to see dead and dying fish. People using the Kentucky River in the area of the plume will likely see and smell dead fish.”
The parent company of Jim Beam, Beam Suntory, has shared how the fire will not impact booze supplies.
“We are thankful that no one was injured in this incident, and we are grateful to the courageous firefighters from multiple jurisdictions who brought the fire under control and prevented it from spreading,” Spokesperson Emily York revealed.
“Given the age of the lost whiskey, this fire will not impact the availability of Jim Beam for consumers.”
What caused the fire has yet to be released.
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