Hefty Seed warehouse in Hurdsfield burns to ground

A Hefty Seed chemical warehouse in Hurdsfield, N.D. was destroyed after flames consumed the structure on Friday, June 2.

No one was injured, but emergency responders and Hefty Seed personnel were forced to go to great lengths to contain the blaze, which was releasing a plume of toxic smoke into the air and posed serious environmental risks.

Chad Weckerly, manager of Hefty Seed's locations in Hurdsfield, Wilton and New Rockford, said camera footage shows the first flames igniting in the northwest corner of the warehouse – which holds agricultural herbicides, insecticides and fungicides – at 10 p.m. that night.

However, the first indication Weckerly had that anything was wrong didn't come until 40 minutes later, and by then it was too late.

"My house is only a block away," said Weckerly, "so once I stepped out the front door of my house I could tell we were dealing with a total loss."

At that point, Weckerly immediately called 911 and informed them of the emergency. He also stressed that the priority had to be alerting residents downwind, who were directly in the smoke plume's path.

Chief Brian Galvin of the Goodrich Rural Fire Department posted detailed updates on Facebook. He reported that nearby residents were notified, and that some chose to shelter in place while others left the area.

Back at the scene, work immediately began to prevent a potential chemical spill.

Luckily, a couple of tractors nearby were already fitted with scrapers, allowing Wecklerly and others to begin constructing a dike around the warehouse to contain the chemical fluids inside.

"While I was calling 911 I was getting in the tractor," recalled Weckerly, "and before emergency vehicles were even there I was already building a clay dike outside of the building."

In addition to constructing an emergency dike, Chief Galvin said two 1,000 gallon propane tanks were pulled from the north side of the warehouse.

"As other fire departments arrived we set up a defensive attack to protect exposures," he added.

Responding crews included the Goodrich, Bowdon, McClusky and Harvey fire departments, as well as the Wells, Sheridan and McHenry county sheriff's offices and the North Dakota Highway Patrol, who provided scene security and assistance with public notification.

Also responding was the regional hazmat response team from the Bismarck Fire Department, who focused on monitoring air quality in the area. They completed their assessment on Saturday.

"The air within 150 feet of the center is still extreme on normal products of fires," reported Galvin on June 3. "The area beyond 200 feet to 500 [feet] is normal air with pockets of elevated levels. The area beyond 500 feet is measuring normal air quality."

Wells County Emergency Manager Tammy Roehrich told the Independent on Monday, June 5, that the fire poses no present danger to the community.

In the end, all chemicals were contained, all residents given notice, and the very worst potential outcome was avoided – all thanks to the timely response of everyone involved.

As of press time, the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

Meanwhile, the blaze dealt a blow to Hefty Seed, a business that provides services to farmers throughout central North Dakota and beyond.

Weckerly said the company is working hard to ensure their customers hardly feel the fire's impact, and their new location in New Rockford is making that possible.

"In hindsight, it's very fortunate that the New Rockford location is up and running now," said Weckerly. "Hurdsfield has been our hub of operations for a lot of people that we deliver to. A lot of that business is going to transition to New Rockford."

He assured customers in the Hurdsfield and Goodrich area that Hefty Seed will remain fully operational there, thanks to a smaller warehouse in Hurdsfield that is still standing.

Operations there will have to be limited to that area, while the company's broader operations will transition to New Rockford.

Ultimately, no matter where the chemicals are stored, Hefty Seed's customers shouldn't be greatly impacted by the fire.

"I feel like we've got a really good plan and that we've got a lot of product coming in the next couple of days," said Weckerly, "and I kind of expect that by this weekend we're likely going to have replaced 99 percent of what we lost in the fire."

Regarding any plans to construct a new chemical warehouse in Hurdsfield, Weckerly said it's a matter of when, not if – and it may come sooner than expected.

"We're reaching out to builders to try to determine when a new structure can go up, but dirt work for the brand new site, where the new store is going to go, ... is going to start this week already," said Weckerly on June 5.

He explained that they were planning to build a new fertilizer plant at the site – which is just north of the burned out warehouse – but said they're "rolling with the punches," and will be constructing a new chemical warehouse instead.

Weckerly added that the entire Hefty Seed company has come together to make sure customers in central North Dakota don't feel the fire's impact on their farms, and assured that Hefty Seed's locations in Hurdsfield, Wilton and New Rockford will remain fully operational.

He also expressed gratitude towards the countless volunteers and community members that have lent a hand or expressed support in any way.

"I really want to thank all of the folks, all of the good volunteers that showed up here in emergency vehicles on Friday night for the great work they did," he said.