Labette County commissioners on Monday heard a brief update on the March 4 fire at Great Plains Industrial Park.
The fire destroyed Building 920, which Parsons Fertilizer LLC was remodeling to produce an organic fertilizer product.
A worker was pouring fuel in a generator and spilled it, which caught fire and destroyed the older building.
Parsons Fertilizer leased 48,539 square feet of space in areas 903, 904 and 920 at Great Plains and was to make an initial $1.2 million investment. Starting off, the company would produce 5-pound and 40-pound bags of fertilizer and then within a year and a half would manufacture 1,000-pound totes for larger agriculture bases. Sales of the product are to be targeted within Kansas, the U.S. and potentially internationally. This information was reported in the Sun in 2017 when the lease was announced.
The company also received a 10-year property tax exemption and was to file paperwork with the county to start the second year of that exemption but the paperwork was incomplete.
Tim Peoples, Great Plains property manager, told commissioners that on March 11 Kansas Fire Marshal Special Agent Michael Tippie and sheriff’s Detective Shannon Vail inspected the site. He hasn’t heard back from them yet.
(Read more: Parsons Sun)