CHEROKEE, Ala. — Two days after a fire destroyed one of the warehouses at a Shoals industrial facility, operators there expect nearly normal operations to resume in a matter of days.
Hundreds of people in and around the town of Cherokee are employed at the Essity plant in the unincorporated town of Barton. It's one of the major drivers of the area economy.
Essity Plant Human Resources Manager Bryan Dyar explained that no departments were in operation Monday. All of the employees are on site assisting with the clean up process.
"We are working to deal with the local commander here to determine where the hot spots are and they're directing the firefighting to those spots," he told FOX54.
What happened is all too clear. Why it happened, is the question of the day.
Dyar said Essity is working with investigators to determine the cause of Saturday's devastating fire. But the good news is, "this building is not occupied or staffed by anybody on a daily basis," Dyer said. "It's fully automated. So, at the time of the fire, there was no one in the building, and so, therefore, no one was injured, thank goodness."
Barton Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Shane Taylor explained that the building did exactly what it's designed to do.
"We've coordinated operation with the plant to control the fire and contain it," he said. "The building itself was designed to do what it has done -- to cave in on itself and to protect the other buildings, which it has done marvelously."
Though it will take some time to get the embers extinguished and the rubble cleared, Essity plans to resume "business as usual" in a matter of days. "We are preparing to begin operations again later this week, as we continue to assess the situation."