Fire damages former Kuna slaughterhouse. Officials ask public for help finding cause
A fire in Kuna damaged a vacant slaughterhouse Monday night.
Local emergency units responded to a 9:30 p.m. call about a commercial structure fire, with the first firefighters arriving at the scene at 9:56 p.m., according to a Kuna Rural Fire District news release.
The building, located south of Boise at 18300 S. Cole Road, was formerly a Tyson Foods Inc. plant but hadn’t been used since it closed in 2006, Kuna Fire said.
The fire department said crews found a “significant working fire” at the plant.
“Firefighters adopted a defensive strategy, extinguishing the blaze from the exterior due to the structure’s condition,” Kuna Fire Chief T.J. Lawrence said in a news release.
Firefighters brought the fire under control by 11:46 p.m. and cleared the scene by 12:51 p.m. without any injuries, according to Kuna Fire.
Built in the 1970s, the Tyson Foods Inc. building was once a beef-processing plant with a slaughtering capacity of 470,000 cows per year, according to Idaho Statesman reporting when the plant closed. Tysons Food said the decision to close the plant, which eliminated 272 local jobs, was caused by concern over the cost of shipping cattle there, the Statesman reported. The closure was part of a larger set of companywide closures and layoffs.
The department said it is still investigating what caused the fire. The chief asked anyone with information to call Kuna Police at 208-377-6790 or leave an anonymous tip at 208-343-2677 or online at 343cops.com.
Responders included the Kuna Rural Fire District, Kuna Police Department, Meridian Fire, Boise Fire, Ada County Paramedics and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Kuna Rural Fire District wishes to express gratitude to all responding agencies for their cooperation and swift action,” Lawrence said.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 10:17 AM.
