Equipment malfunction sparks late-night fire at Wald Family Foods
McPherson fire crews extinguish two-alarm blaze; all employees safely evacuated
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Become a subscriberMCPHERSON, Kan. — A late-night equipment malfunction sparked a two-alarm fire Thursday, July 30, at Wald Family Foods, forcing a full evacuation of the food production facility with no reported injuries. First responders were dispatched to the plant at 1144 Bridger Court just after 10:30 p.m. after an automatic alarm detected water flowing from the building's sprinkler system. Arriving crews observed fire on the roof and requested a second alarm, drawing mutual aid from the Inman and Galva fire departments.
Inside the plant, firefighters found an assembly line oven that had continued operating after a mechanical jam, causing excessive heat to ignite accumulated grease and food debris. The flames overwhelmed employees' initial attempts to use portable fire extinguishers, eventually traveling up the exhaust system and catching adjacent roofing materials on fire.
The blaze was brought under control within 20 minutes, though crews remained on the scene to cool equipment, clear smoke and check for structural extension. The McPherson Police Department, McPherson EMS and the McPherson County Sheriff's Office also responded to the emergency.
Due to high ambient temperatures, EMS personnel established a rehabilitation area to frequently rotate and monitor the overheated firefighters. Investigators have officially ruled the fire accidental, confirming that all facility employees safely escaped the building before fire crews arrived.
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