Explosion destroys fruit processing plant

By MELISSA DOMSIC
mdomsic@record-eagle.com

October 07, 2008 12:00 am

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BUCKLEY -- An explosion at Leelanau Fruit Company's cherry processing plant destroyed most of the facility but left workers unscathed.

The roughly 10,000-square-foot plant on M-37 in Buckley was set ablaze at about 4:40 p.m. Monday, and was still smoldering five hours later.

Company owner Glenn LaCross suspects the blast occurred from the combustion of hot bleaches used in the processing of sweet cherries into maraschino cherries.

Two employees were in the plant mixing solutions for bleaching cherries when cans of chemicals ignited. Both workers were able to get out unharmed.

LaCross' mind was already on reconstruction as he watched bulldozers knock down the walls to allow firefighters to continue dousing the fire.

"We'll just pick up the pieces," he said. "We're fruit farmers, and we're used to crop failures and so on, and that's just what this is."

A total of five employees work at the Buckley plant, and LaCross said he had planned to add another eight to ten employees before the fire ruined the warehouse section of the plant.

Parts of the front production room and offices might be salvageable, he said.

The company's main warehouse is in Suttons Bay. LaCross opened the Buckely plant in 2001.

Maraschino cherry production accounts for about 70 percent of the company's business, and most of that work is done in Buckley.

LaCross said he plans to rent warehouses and turn some of his Suttons Bay facility into production space in order to keep operating.

"We certainly are not quitters," he said. "We'll rebuild this thing. We'll be back in business."

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