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Jim Beam thanks firefighters who extinguished warehouse blaze

Jim Beam officials penned an open letter thanking firefighters for their efforts and stating regret over the environmental impact of the fire

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Flames and smoke rise from a bourbon warehouse fire at a Jim Beam distillery in Woodford County, Ky.

Pat McDonogh/Courier Journal via AP

By Associated Press

VERSAILLES, Ky. — Jim Beam has written an open letter to some newspapers to thank firefighters for battling a fire that recently burned down a storage warehouse in Kentucky. The bourbon producer owrites that it regrets the environmental impact of the fire.

Beam officials say they’re working with state and local authorities to “restore the natural environment” near the warehouse that was destroyed when a lightning strike triggered the fire. Beam writes that it did “everything we could to manage the impact to wildlife.”

The massive blaze earlier this month destroyed about 45,000 barrels of aging whiskey.

Bourbon-filled runoff flowed into nearby waterways, removing oxygen from the water and killing fish.

In their letter, company officials say they “raise our glass” to thank the firefighters who extinguished the blaze and kept it from spreading.