[GSBN] FW: Texas Agriboard Plant Destroyed by Grassfire

[Joyce Coppinger]

Another fire report - this time the Agriboard plant, not a sb building. See
news story below. I don't have any further information to share.

Joyce
-------
Joyce Coppinger, Managing Editor/Publisher
The Last Straw, the 40-page international journal
of strawbale and natural building
GPFS/TLS, PO Box 22706, Lincoln NE 68542-2706 USA
402.483.5135, fax 402.483.5161
<thelaststraw at thelaststraw.org>
www.thelaststraw.org




 http://texomashomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=37332
> 
> Agriboard Plant in Electra Destroyed by Grassfire
> Reported by: Sara DiMura
> Friday, Apr 10, 2009 @07:19pm
> 
> The Agriboard Plant, which makes building material from wheat straw, is
> listed as a total loss.
> 
> The company's owners flew into town today to tour the plant.
> 
> The owner, Ron Ryan, says he and his wife have had the plant for about ten
> years.
> 
> He says Agriboard had around 18-million dollars in sales, and everything was
> going well until now.
> 
> Electra, Texas has been home to the Agriboard Plant since 2000.
> 
> Thursday afternoon they got the order to evacuate immediately because fire
> was headed their way.
> 
> "We left the property we didn't even close the gate out here because the
> wind was blowing around fifty miles an hour and there was smoke we couldn't
> see and we figured we better get out of here,² says Steve Schmidt Vice
> President of Accounting Agriboard Plant.
> 
> Agriboard's owner says he's just glad no one was injured.
> 
> "My first concern and still my concern is that nobody gets hurt or killed or
> injured and as bad as this is it appears at least thus far no one has gotten
> hurt killed or injured and that's the most important thing,² says Ron Ryan
> owner Agriboard Plant.
> 
> Electra firefighters were back today to fight a small flare up.
> 
> Small fires were still burning among the debris today.
> 
> The compacted straw building materials are used in homes and big building
> such as banks.
> 
> One of the company's major customers is Wells Fargo.
> 
> (Sara DiMura, sara at kfdx.com)
> "This fire in Electra not only caused visible damage to the buildings here
> on the Agriboard Plant lot it also will have an impact on the economy
> because now 40 are now without a job."
> 
> "At least 30 to 31 are plant workers that either live in Electra or Vernon,
> Texas so they lived here in this geographical area and Agriboard supports
> the Electra Chamber of Commerce and we pay healthy taxes in Wichita County,²
> says Schmidt.
> 
> Ryan says he would like to rebuild and continue the plant's operation.
> 
> "Obviously Electra, Texas been's good to us and this plant's been here for
> ten years good to us and we struggled long and hard to try to make it work
> and it was just finally turning itself around to what we thought it could be
> and we think it can be again so it's not my intention to give up on it,²
> says Schmidt.
> 
> Ryan says employee's will receive at least a weeks pay while they try to
> figure out what they're going to do.
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 

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