Fire investigators are continuing to comb through debris at the former Blue Grass Stockyards in Lexington, searching for a cause for a massive weekend fire. Governor Matt Bevin toured the scene Monday and talked to those impacted.
The fire destroyed one of the busiest stockyards east of the Mississippi as well as nearby businesses. Blue Grass Stockyards had been in operation continuously for seven decades. Governor Bevin said the blaze offers a chance for rebirth out of something tragic. He says the state will stand by Kentucky’s cattle industry. “There are programs," Bevin said. "As to exactly which will apply and when the timing of those is best applied, are all yet to be determined.”
The thick black smoke that filled the air Saturday prompted fire officials to urge those with respiratory issues to stay indoors. Battalion Chief Gregg Bayer says air quality is back to normal. He says the fire at the stockyards is the largest he’s fought in his 21 years. “You always pray that you can get through a career without one of these, but what you know in the back of your mind is that’s what we get paid for is to deal with these incidents,” Bayer said.
Cattle sales will go on at other area stockyards. UK Livestock Economist Kenny Burdine says farmers could see some additional costs. “It’s gonna mean some additional transportation costs in a lot of cases," he said. "You know livestock tend to shrink as they are transported further, so there’s an impact there as well.”
Burdine says there’s a seasonal aspect to cattle sales, but on very busy times selling over a thousand head a day was not unheard of. Stockyards General Manager Jim Akers says a board decision about whether to rebuild at the current Forbes Road site is possible by week’s end.?
