Bio-Diesel Plant Explosion Forces Evacuations In New Albany

(New Albany, MS) JNS Biofuels on Highway 15 was rocked by at least two explosions after 5 a.m. Wednesday. Large storage tanks containing biofuel and other liquids continued burning throughout the day. The good news is none of the company’s employees or anyone living or working near the plant was injured. The cause of the massive fire is still unknown, but it sounded like a hungry animal as flames devoured JNS Biofuels in New Albany. There were two employees at the plant Wednesday morning when the fire started. They escaped on foot unharmed, but left their pickup truck behind. There was at least one explosion at the plant on Highway 15. Kelly Coltharp lives ten miles south of JNS and said she distinctly heard two blasts. “Like, boom-boom. Just real close together. And I mean I live…I was in my house in the bed and I heard it. So, it as very loud,” said Kelly Coltharp. JNS Biofuels employs ten people and has been located in New Albany for three years. Plant Manager Carl Harlin said nothing like this has ever happened before and he’s still in shock at how quickly the business was destroyed. “I got a call about 5:30 this morning, said it was on fire. By the time we got here, about ten minutes later, it was a hundred percent involved,” said Harlin. Carl Harlin said ruptured tanks contain biodiesel and chicken fat and don’t pose a hazard. But crews with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality were on the scene to monitor what was burning and to see if the thick cloud of black smoke posed any health risk. Two businesses, employing 400 workers and a Union County Maintenance Shop directly across the highway, were not allowed to open Wednesday morning. We’re told only one home was evacuated. Firefighters from four departments are letting the fire burn itself out, but that is expected to take several more hours. The explosion and fire caused big headaches for utility customers because when the explosion happened, it burned down a primary power line stretching across Highway 15. The primary line served hundreds of customers north of the fire and crews with New Albany Light, Gas and Water weren’t able to get into the substation to repair the damage. “We lost service to all our customers up Highway 15 north, including the town of Blue Mountain. So, about five-hundred customers and two or three production plants have been down all morning,” said Bill Mattox, GM of New Albany Light, Gas and Water. But there’s good news! Wednesday afternoon utility crews were able to re-route power and restore electricity without waiting to go into the substation. Now folks in Blue Mountain have power. The fire at JNS Biofuels may take several more hours to burn itself out. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but Carl Harlin said the company plans to re-build.