A fire in one room of a food plant can idle the whole plant. The product, the restart and the policy's fine print decide the outcome.
Last updated: October 2026
Smoke reaches product in rooms that never burned. Inspectors and the state have a say in what is saved. The restart waits on switchgear, refrigeration parts and sanitation sign-off. We document and negotiate the full loss for the policyholder, and we tell you plainly when a question belongs with your attorney.
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In August 2019, a fire in the section housing electrical and hydraulic systems idled Tyson's Holcomb, Kansas beef plant, which could process about 6,000 head a day. Harvest was set to resume in about four months and full operations in about five. Tyson booked $31 million in fire-related expense that quarter.
Sources: Kansas Livestock Association, November 2019; Feedstuffs, 2019.
Your plant just had a fire. What to do this week.
On day one, almost nobody knows the extent of the damage. A day after the January 2026 fire at Preferred Beef Group in Booker, Texas, its CFO said the extent of damage was unknown. That is normal. The decisions you make this week still shape the claim.
Expect the fire to keep going. Preferred Beef Group's fire drew mutual aid from as far as Liberal, Kansas, about 60 miles away, and crews handled flare-ups for several days. Do not move anything investigators have not released. At a 2024 cold storage fire, some areas needed investigators' approval before work.
Segregate and hold product. Keep product separated and controlled by area and lot. Do not discard it and do not sell it. In FSIS plants, if the plant fails to segregate and control adulterated product, inspectors retain it.
Photograph every storage area before anything moves, with close-ups of packaging. Ask the fire department which suppression agents were used and write down the answer. FDA investigators examine products for fire-suppression residues.
Export temperature records now: data-logger files and building management system alarm history for every cold room.
Bring in qualified people for the ammonia system, and treat the restart as a hazard. At Millard Refrigerated Services in 2010, a restart after an outage of more than 7 hours caused hydraulic shock and a 32,100 lb ammonia release. Keep PLC and alarm logs.
Give written notice to your broker and every insurer that may respond: property, spoilage, equipment breakdown and any product contamination or recall policy, which may have its own notice windows. In Texas, the insurer has 15 days after written notice to acknowledge the claim and start investigating.
Decide payroll early, and write down why. Tyson paid active full-time team members for 40 hours a week through the Holcomb closure. How payroll is treated depends on your business income form.
Open an extra expense ledger on day one. Co-packer invoices, freight, temporary refrigeration, overtime and security are only recoverable if they are documented.
The policy also requires you to set damaged property aside where feasible, and it lets the insurer take samples of damaged and undamaged property. Keep both available.
Sources: Meatingplace and NewsChannel 10 (January 2026); NWPB (2024); FSIS Directive 5000.3; FDA Investigations Operations Manual 2026, ch. 8; CSB Millard case study; TSCRA (2019); ISO CP 00 30; Tex. Ins. Code §542.055.
What can be saved, who decides, and how to prove contamination
Smoke from a fire contained in one area can affect food across the premises. Refrigerator and freezer seals are not airtight. Canned or jarred food near a fire can look fine and still be unsafe. That is why the stock claim at a food plant is often plant-wide, not limited to the burn.
| Damage pattern | What the evidence says | What it means for your claim |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke migration | Smoke from one area can affect food across the plant, and cold room seals are not airtight | Document stock by area and packaging type, not only near the origin |
| Toxic residue | Smoke residue at the 1991 Americold fire contained toluene, benzene and phenol | Independent lab testing outweighs a visual walkthrough |
| Firefighting water and chemicals | FDA examines products for suppression residues and handles firefighting water damage as flooding | Record which agents were used and where |
| Heat | Sealed cans and jars near a fire can look fine but be unsafe | Sealed product is not automatically salvageable |
| Ammonia | Metal and heavy foil resist ammonia best; kraft paper and waxed cardboard are extremely permeable | Packaging type, lot by lot, decides what can be saved |
| Panels that look intact | Fire or impact can destroy a panel's fire performance without visible damage, and smoke may require full replacement | Expect a repair-or-replace argument over sanitary walls and ceilings |
Who decides what happens to the product
It is not the insurer alone. In FSIS-inspected meat and poultry plants, inspectors retain adulterated product the plant fails to control, and they verify that held product reached an approved destination, such as a renderer or landfill. For FDA-regulated food, FDA says the product owner decides, together with state and local authorities. FDA lacks embargo authority, but states can act quickly.
In Texas, the Salvage Act (Health and Safety Code ch. 432) treats food exposed to smoke, water, humidity or temperature extremes as distressed merchandise. Texas licenses salvage brokers and salvage operators. A manufacturer may recondition its own products in the normal course of business without a salvage license, and transferring distressed food to a licensed salvage broker or operator falls outside the Act. DSHS may detain or embargo food a licensee holds for reconditioning. Violations carry penalties of up to $25,000 each. How the Act applies to a specific sale or transfer is a question for your attorney.
Proving contamination when the product looks fine
The 1991 Americold underground storage fire in Kansas City, Kansas burned for about two months. Of 245 million pounds of stored food, more than 143 million pounds went to landfills. GAO found that samples the owners selected, taken without a disinterested third party, undermined product releases. Insurers and salvagers pressed for quick release while the state held its embargo.
The lesson holds today: a written sampling plan, an independent sampler and chain of custody. We bring in industrial hygienists to test and document what contamination is present, where it migrated and at what levels. In a food plant the standard is documented safety, not "looks clean."
If your product was sitting in a third-party cold store that burned, read our cold storage fire claim page as well.
Sources: Marsh; USDA FSIS, Fires and Food Safety; FDA IOM 2026, ch. 8; FDA, How to dispose of contaminated or spoiled food; Mass. DPH food salvage guidelines; Aviva composite panels standard; FSIS Directive 5000.3; Texas Health and Safety Code ch. 432; GAO/RCED-95-76.
Building, stock, spoilage, equipment breakdown, utility, income, recall: the coverage map
A food plant loss usually touches six or more coverage parts at once, and money is lost in the seams between them. Specimen equipment breakdown forms carry spoilage sublimits of $25,000 to $100,000, which is small next to a plant's cold inventory.
| Piece of the loss | Where it is usually covered | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Building, equipment and stock damaged by the fire | Commercial property form | Valuation, coinsurance, and whether values were current |
| Perishable stock lost to refrigeration failure, contamination or power outage | Spoilage endorsement (ISO CP 04 40): its own limit and deductible, no coinsurance, only the perils you selected | Which perils are checked, the selling-price option, and whether the refrigeration maintenance agreement was in force |
| Spoilage after a breakdown of covered equipment | Equipment breakdown, with a spoilage sublimit ($25,000 or $100,000 in two specimen forms); ammonia contamination falls inside spoilage | The actual sublimits on your schedule |
| An off-site power or utility failure | Utility services, direct damage (CP 04 17) and time element (CP 15 45); needs physical damage to the selected utility property | Whether overhead lines were selected, whether power supply includes gas, and the waiting period in hours |
| Lost production and extra expense | Business income and extra expense (ISO CP 00 30). Income starts 72 hours after the loss; extra expense starts at once. A manufacturer's income includes net sales value of production | The limit against 12 months of projected income, the coinsurance percentage, and whether a worksheet was filed |
| Income still down after you reopen | Extended business income: 60 days after reopening unless you bought an extended period of indemnity | The number of days on the declarations |
| An order that blocks access | Civil authority: damage within one mile and an order barring access, for up to four weeks | The order's wording and dates |
| Code upgrades and code-driven delay | Ordinance or law; the base income form excludes code-driven delay unless the increased period endorsement (CP 15 31) was added | Whether both were bought; NFPA 660 upgrades may be ordered |
| A key supplier, customer or third-party cold store | Dependent properties (CP 15 08 / CP 15 09) | Named locations and the limit |
| Sprinklers or hood suppression down at the time | Protective safeguards (CP 04 11): fire loss is excluded if a known impairment went unreported, with a 48-hour exception for breakage, leakage or freezing | Sprinkler (P-1) and cooking hood (P-5) records and any impairment notices you sent |
| Recall and contamination | A separate product contamination or recall policy, if you have one. One insurer lists recall, destruction, rehabilitation and business interruption costs | Whether you have one, its notice windows, and triggers that can require contamination likely to cause bodily injury |
This is claims practice, not legal advice, and your policy wording controls. Surplus lines and large-risk policies often use manuscript wording that departs from these ISO terms. We document the loss and present it; how a policy applies in a dispute belongs with your attorney.
Sources: ISO CP 00 30, CP 04 40, CP 04 17, CP 15 45, CP 04 11; HSB and Fremont equipment breakdown specimens; AIG; Reinhart (2015); TDI commercial property filing checklist.
Why food plant fires become long shutdowns: dust, fryers, panels, electrical rooms
Food plant fires are rare by count and large by dollar, and NFPA does not track food processing plants as their own category. Combustible dust is where food stands out. The food industry accounted for 47.4% of tracked global combustible dust incidents in 2022, and food and wood products together were 79% of dust fires and explosions in 2023. In the CSB's 2006 to 2017 list, food had 21 of 105 incidents, the most of any industry.
When a run of food plant fires drew attention online in 2022, an NFPA spokesperson told FactCheck.org that about 20 fires at U.S. food processing facilities in four months was not unusual. Equipment and contractors are the typical causes, which is why the cause investigation matters to your claim.
Dust in enclosed equipment.
At Imperial Sugar in 2008, the CSB found the first explosion likely began in a newly enclosed conveyor, probably ignited by an overheated bearing.
What it means for your claim: equipment design, maintenance and housekeeping records will be examined.
Silos, dryers and dust collectors.
Silos figured in 36% of 2023 dust incidents, dryers in 18% and dust collectors in 13%; dust collectors were 24% in 2022.
What it means for your claim: preserve the unit, its filters and the dust hazard analysis file.
Fryers, ovens, dryers and boilers.
In a UK review of 12 food plant panel fires, half began in production equipment, and ducts and a boiler flue carried fire into panels. A portable natural-gas boiler exploded and started a fire at Shearer's Foods in Oregon in 2022.
What it means for your claim: pull maintenance and interlock records, and keep rented or serviced units for joint examination.
Hot work.
A 2022 fire at Taylor Farms in Salinas, California may have started from a welding spark.
What it means for your claim: hot work permits, contractor contracts and certificates of insurance are among the first records requested.
Self-heating waste.
Stored tortilla chip waste at an Austin plant combusted on July 12 and again on July 15, 2018, during a new waste-handling trial.
What it means for your claim: process and waste-handling changes belong in the cause timeline.
Electrical failure.
Electrical failure was a factor in 20% of industrial and manufacturing fires from 2011 to 2015.
What it means for your claim: electrical rooms drive long restorations, as at Tyson Holcomb.
Ammonia restart.
At Millard, the CSB traced the 2010 hydraulic shock to a control programming error during the restart.
What it means for your claim: keep PLC, alarm, defrost and override logs.
Why a small fire becomes a total loss
- Secondary dust explosions. At Imperial Sugar in Port Wentworth, Georgia, on February 7, 2008, the first blast lifted dust and spilled sugar into a cascade of secondary explosions. Fourteen workers died. Workers testified that spilled sugar was knee-deep in places.
- Combustible-core panels. Aviva names food manufacturing and freezer stores as typical users of insulated sandwich panels. The hidden core keeps water off the fire, so firefighting turns defensive and total loss is common.
- Off-hours ignition. In 7 of the 12 UK food plant panel fires, the plant was idle, out of production or under maintenance.
- Water supply failure. A California baby food plant's sprinklers failed in 2016 when a municipal pump lost power. The loss was $14.5 million.
Cause and your claim: Contractor hot work, boilers and equipment failures are potential third-party causes, and the insurer may pursue them after it pays. Keep the scene and the parts available for joint examination. Prior incidents can become evidence too: the CSB cited a 1998 explosion at Imperial's Sugar Land, Texas plant as a precursor. Liability, recovery rights and the effect of prior incidents are questions for your attorney.
Sources: Powder & Bulk Solids (2018, 2022); Processing Magazine 2022 dust report; Dust Safety Science; FactCheck.org (2022); CSB Imperial Sugar; UK Home Office FRDG 3/97; Aviva; NFPA large-loss list via Risk Logic; CSB Millard.
Selling price or cost, salvage credits and the panels
Selling price or cost
The ISO spoilage selling-price option values finished perishable stock at selling price. Other forms are narrower: one business owners policy form pays selling price only on stock sold but not delivered, and actual cash value on the rest. Read the valuation clause before the insurer's accountant prices the stock. For a seasonal producer the gap is large. Greenberg Smoked Turkeys lost more than 78,000 finished turkeys in a November 2020 fire, weeks before the holidays.
Value raw materials, work in process and finished goods at cost and at selling price, by SKU, lot and location. We reconcile the stock claim against the business income claim so the same loss is neither counted twice nor shaved.
Salvage credits
Expect the carrier to credit any salvage proceeds against the stock claim. Agree on the salvage process and the credit in writing before product leaves the plant, and keep disposition records for everything that goes to a renderer, landfill or salvage buyer.
Insulated panels
Aviva's loss prevention standard says fire or impact can destroy a panel's fire performance without visible damage, and that smoke-contaminated panels may need full replacement. That is a citable industry position when the carrier proposes cleaning sanitary walls and ceilings.
Coinsurance
The ISO business income form's own example pays $60,000 on an $80,000 loss when the limit is $150,000 against a $200,000 requirement. Coinsurance does not apply to extra expense. Check your exposure with our coinsurance penalty calculator.
Sources: ISO CP 04 40; Victor BOP spoilage form; CBS Texas (2020); Texas Health and Safety Code ch. 432; FSIS Directive 5000.3; Aviva; ISO CP 00 30.
Lost production, extra expense and co-packing: how a plant's income claim is measured
A plant's income loss is lost production at net sales value, minus costs that stop, plus the extra expense of keeping customers supplied. The restoration period is set less by framing and roofing than by electrical gear, sanitary panels, regulatory sign-off and code upgrades.
Measure it in your own units
Head per day, pounds, cases and shifts, by line. Tyson Holcomb could process about 6,000 head a day, about 6% of U.S. slaughter capacity. Preferred Beef Group had processed more than 200,000 head a year. Payroll is a continuing expense to document; Tyson guaranteed weekly pay to full-time active employees until production resumed.
For a seasonal producer, project from the season's order book and prior seasons, not a trailing monthly average. More than 200,000 customers order from Greenberg each season, and after its fire it shipped no birds that season.
How we build it
We do not hand the carrier one calculation. We model the loss several independent ways, against seasonality and production cycles, against equipment lead times, and against the sanitation and re-inspection timeline a food line needs before it can restart, and use those models against each other. The look-back period matters too: a soft year inside a multi-year average can drag your baseline down when it does not reflect normal operations. Run your own numbers first with our business income worksheet.
What sets the restoration period
| Driver | Current figure |
|---|---|
| Real-world restart | Tyson Holcomb: harvest set to resume in about 4 months and full operations in about 5; the rebuild included more than 50,000 feet of new wiring |
| Medium-voltage switchgear | 52 to 80 weeks (one contractor's 2026 procurement data) |
| Pad-mount distribution transformers | 40 to 65 weeks (same 2026 data) |
| Ammonia screw compressors | 16 to 32 weeks (2026) |
| Evaporator coils | 12 to 20 weeks (2026) |
| Condensers and glycol chillers | 10 to 18 weeks each (2026) |
| Texas food wholesaler license | 4 to 6 weeks normal processing |
The refrigeration figures are one builder's published ranges. For freezers, fryers, ovens and full lines, dated vendor quotes set the timeline. Code-driven delay is excluded from the period of restoration unless the increased period endorsement (CP 15 31) was added.
Extra expense to document
- Running product at sister plants, as Tyson did by diverting cattle to its other beef plants
- Temporary or replacement premises, including relocation and equipping
- Co-packing: a Texas firm that puts its name on product made by a co-packer needs a DSHS Food Manufacturer license, so track the price difference, freight, relabeling and licensing
- Temporary cold storage (Texas had 56 refrigerated warehouses with 254 million gross cubic feet in 2025)
- Overtime, rented refrigeration and security
After you reopen
The base form adds only 60 days of income after reopening. Winning back shelf space or a seasonal account may take longer than 60 days, which is what an extended period of indemnity is for. If your product sat in a third-party cold store that burned, dependent-property and off-premises stock coverage come into play.
of tracked global combustible dust incidents in 2022 were in the food industry, more than any other.
Processing Magazine, 2022 dust incident report
lead time for medium-voltage switchgear in one contractor's 2026 procurement data.
Foley & Lardner, September 2026
of income after reopening is all the base business income form covers, unless you bought an extended period of indemnity.
ISO CP 00 30
Sources: ISO CP 00 30; Feedstuffs; KLA; FoodNavigator (2019); Meatingplace (2026); DTN (2019); CBS Texas (2020); Foley & Lardner (2026); Terrapin Construction Group (2026); DSHS form EF23-10505; Texas DSHS food manufacturers; USDA NASS (2026).
FSIS, FDA, DSHS and code upgrades: what gates your restart
In Texas, FSIS gates the restart for federally inspected meat and poultry plants. Other plants need a DSHS food manufacturer license under Health and Safety Code ch. 431 and 25 TAC ch. 229. Every one of these steps adds time, and that time belongs in the business income claim.
FSIS plants: reassess the HACCP plan whenever a change could affect the hazard analysis, and document the reasons (9 CFR 417.4). After a disaster, inspectors verify Sanitation SOPs and sanitation performance standards.
Ready-to-eat plants hit by flooding, electrical failure or physical damage: FSIS may schedule intensified Listeria verification testing on restart. At slaughter plants, FSIS notes that rising Salmonella or E. coli results can show up three months or more later.
FDA-registered plants: update the food facility registration within 60 days of any change to required information. After floods, FDA's manual says plants should not resume until cleanup and sanitizing are complete.
State permits: after decontamination, the state decides with FDA when equipment and areas return to food use, and permits must be reissued before startup. In Texas, licenses are per place of business, so a new or temporary site needs its own DSHS license. A replacement license certificate can be printed from DSHS Online Licensing Services and keeps the original expiration date.
Code upgrades: NFPA 660 requires dust hazard analyses for new and existing systems, and the fire marshal may order upgrades. Ordinance or law coverage pays the added cost to rebuild to code, up to its limit, if the building is actually repaired or rebuilt; see our ordinance or law calculator.
| Rule | What it requires |
|---|---|
| DSHS Food Manufacturer license | Required to process or package food for wholesale, and for a Texas firm private-labeling product made by a co-packer |
| Per-location licensing | Separate locations, including warehouses, need their own license |
| 25 TAC ch. 229 | Subchapter N (good manufacturing and warehousing practice) and Subchapter AA (food salvage); state rules adopt 21 CFR Part 117 |
| Texas Salvage Act (HSC ch. 432) | Distressed food rules, licensing of salvage brokers and operators, and DSHS detention and embargo powers |
| FSIS Directive 5000.7 | HACCP reassessment and sanitation verification after natural disasters |
Sources: Texas DSHS laws and rules; 9 CFR 417.4; FSIS Directive 5000.7; Federal Register (July 14, 2016); FDA IOM 2026, ch. 8; FDA, How to dispose of contaminated or spoiled food; SB 1803 bill analysis (2003); Texas DSHS licensing; Processing Magazine on NFPA 660; ISO CP 00 30.
Uri, Beryl and storm outages: when power loss is and is not covered
Texas food and beverage manufacturing employed 116,788 workers and added $15.3 billion to state GDP in 2020. The Texas perils that recently hit plants hardest were utility and fuel failures.
Winter Storm Uri, February 2021
Gas shutoffs stopped dairy plants from pasteurizing, and more than 1,800 semi loads of milk were dumped. The Texas Agriculture Commissioner put dumped milk at about $8 million a day while plants lacked power, and Texas milk plants were down about a week. TDI counted 7,237 business interruption claims from the freeze, with $519.5 million paid.
Hurricane Beryl, July 2024
Beryl affected 2.26 million CenterPoint customers, the largest outage in its history, and about 1 million were still out on July 11. TDI designated 67 counties as a weather catastrophe area, which adds 15 days to each insurer claim deadline.
Where outage claims turn
- Spoilage (CP 04 40) excludes switching off power, a utility's failure from lack of fuel or a government order, and too little on-site generating capacity
- Utility services time element (CP 15 45) does not cover planned shutoffs or rolling blackouts, and needs physical damage to the selected utility property
- In one FC&S reader question, the utility exclusion was applied even to an insured-owned line
- Equipment breakdown spoilage needs an accident to covered equipment; after a roof collapse and power loss, FC&S agreed that coolers that did not break did not qualify
- Product that expired because customers were closed after Hurricane Isaac was treated as market loss, not spoilage
- Whether income stops when a generator restarts operations or when utility power returns is disputed; FC&S's view favors the insured when the generator did not fully restore operations
- Civil authority needs an order barring access; after Sandy, transit shutdowns did not clearly qualify
Applying these exclusions to your outage is a question for your attorney. Our job is the record: outage tickets and timestamps, generator run logs, fuel deliveries and temperature data.
Texas claim deadlines
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Acknowledge the claim, start investigating, request documents | 15 days after written notice of claim (30 business days for surplus lines) |
| Accept or reject in writing | 15 business days after receiving all requested items |
| Pay an accepted claim | 5 business days (20 business days for surplus lines) |
| TDI-designated weather catastrophe | Each deadline gets 15 more days |
The statute sets 18% annual interest plus reasonable attorney's fees when a liable insurer misses these deadlines. Whether that applies to your claim is a question for your attorney. Track your dates with our Texas prompt payment deadline calculator.
Sources: Texas Comptroller (2021); Brownfield Ag News (2021); AP via WBFF (2021); TDI February 2021 winter weather summary; ABC13 (2024); TDI B-0014-24; ISO CP 04 40 and CP 15 45; FC&S (2012, 2013, 2020); Business Insurance (2013); Tex. Ins. Code §§542.055 to 542.060.
The shortfalls in these claims are predictable. So is how we fight them.
Large losses in this sector are contested on a handful of recurring fronts. None of these mean the carrier is acting in bad faith, it means the policy is complex and the default reading of it favors the insurer unless someone pushes back with documentation. Here's what they try, and what we do about each.
Tools the policy gives the carrier
- Inspect the property, take samples of damaged and undamaged product, and examine and copy your books
- Question any insured under oath, privately, with signed answers
- Require a signed, sworn proof of loss within 60 days of its request
- Pay within 30 days of a sworn proof of loss once the amount is agreed or appraised
- Demand appraisal of the amount of loss, which either side may do
On a large plant loss, expect a cause-and-origin investigator, a forensic engineer if equipment is suspect, a forensic accountant, a laboratory or industrial hygienist, a refrigeration engineer when ammonia is involved, and a salvor bidding on distressed stock. Match each one with your own expert.
Spoilage is treated as a peril you did not select, or as market loss.
Our move: We check which perils were scheduled and document the cause of the temperature loss with logs, alarms and outage tickets.
The carrier says there was no accident to covered equipment.
Our move: We document what failed, when and why, and match each part of the loss to the coverage that actually responds.
No physical damage to utility property, or overhead lines not selected.
Our move: We gather outage tickets, timestamps and utility damage records. Where the wording is in dispute, we work alongside your attorney.
A sprinkler or hood impairment, or a lapsed refrigeration contract, is raised in a reservation of rights.
Our move: We pull inspection, impairment-notice and contract records early. How a condition applies in a dispute is for your attorney.
Product that looks fine is treated as saleable.
Our move: Independent sampling, industrial hygienist testing and lot-by-lot packaging records establish what can be saved and what cannot.
Finished goods are priced at cost.
Our move: We apply the valuation clause the policy actually contains, including sold-but-undelivered orders.
The timeline ignores lead times and regulatory sign-off.
Our move: Dated vendor quotes, FSIS, FDA and DSHS steps, and code requirements set the real period.
The carrier or salvor presses for a quick release of product.
Our move: We coordinate with the regulators who hold the product and agree on the salvage credit in writing.
If you disagree with the number: Either side may demand appraisal of the amount of loss under the standard form. In 2026, the Texas Supreme Court ordered appraisal of a Dallas food-distribution warehouse loss from a ruptured fire-suppression water line. It held that possible coverage disputes, alleged bad-faith handling or a claimed prior breach do not defeat appraisal. How that ruling applies to your claim is a question for your attorney.
Sources: ISO CP 00 30; ISO CP 04 11 and CP 04 40; FC&S (2012, 2013); GAO/RCED-95-76; In re Ace American Insurance Co., No. 25-0461 (Tex. 2026).
Real losses, real timelines
These are public reports, not Crossroads cases. The same lessons repeat: support systems stop whole plants, seasons are lost in one night, and product decisions are made with regulators. Where a cause is still under investigation, we say so.
| Date | Incident | Scale | Lesson for a claimant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | Lineage "Big Bear" cold store, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles: third-party storage of seafood, pork, beef and poultry; cause under investigation | About 85 million lb of food stored; Lineage put cleanup at more than $100 million | Product held at a third-party warehouse is a dependent-property and off-premises stock exposure |
| Jan 2026 | Preferred Beef Group, Booker, Texas: beef packing plant fire; cause under investigation | More than 200,000 head a year; more than 300 people idled; the 94 affected families were 24% of Booker ISD's students | Day-one uncertainty is normal; decide payroll early and document why |
| Apr 2024 | Lineage cold store, Finley, Washington: fire began in a freezer and smoldered for about two months | About 525,000 sq ft; about 90,000 tons of debris | Regional processors lost a storage partner; contingent business income matters |
| Feb 2021 | Texas dairy and produce processing, Winter Storm Uri | More than 1,800 semi loads of milk dumped; milk plants down about a week | Utility endorsements and fuel or government-order exclusions decide outage claims |
| Nov 2020 | Greenberg Smoked Turkeys, Tyler, Texas: fire and suspected explosion in a freezer storage building; cause not determined | More than 78,000 finished turkeys destroyed; no birds shipped that season | Value finished goods at selling price and project income from the season |
| Aug 2019 | Tyson beef plant, Holcomb, Kansas: fire in the section housing electrical and hydraulic systems | About 6,000 head a day; about 3,800 workers idled; $31 million in fire-related expense in one quarter | Support systems can stop a whole plant; full restart was planned at about 5 months |
| Jul 2018 | Tortilla chip plant, Austin, Texas: stored chip waste combusted twice during a new waste-handling trial | Exterior damage only | Process changes create new ignition sources |
| Jul 2016 | Baby food plant, California: sprinklers failed when a municipal pump lost power | $14.5 million ($11.4 million building, $3.1 million contents) | Water supply and power dependencies can defeat sprinklers |
| Aug 2010 | Millard Refrigerated Services, Theodore, Alabama: restart after a 7-hour outage caused hydraulic shock | 32,100 lb of ammonia released; about 8 million lb of poultry and packaging contaminated; 32 people hospitalized | Outages cause losses after power returns; keep restart and control logs |
| Feb 2008 | Imperial Sugar, Port Wentworth, Georgia: sugar dust explosion, then secondary explosions | 14 workers killed; packing buildings largely destroyed | Prior incidents become evidence; the CSB cited a 1998 explosion at the Sugar Land, Texas plant as a precursor |
| Dec 1991 | Americold underground food storage, Kansas City, Kansas: fire burned about two months | 245 million lb stored; more than 143 million lb landfilled | Independent sampling and regulator coordination decide what is saved |
Sources: NBC Los Angeles (2026); Meatingplace and NewsChannel 10 (2026); FireRescue1 and Lineage (2024); Brownfield and Texas Comptroller (2021); CBS Texas (2020); KLA, Feedstuffs and Powder & Bulk Solids (2019); Powder & Bulk Solids (2018); Risk Logic (NFPA list); CSB.
Documents to pull this week
Pull these in the first week, before anything is moved or discarded and before the first records request.
Policy and conditions
full policy with every endorsement and schedule (business income, spoilage, equipment breakdown, utility services with overhead lines yes or no, protective safeguards, dependent properties, ordinance or law, extended period of indemnity); any product contamination or recall policy and its notice and injury-reporting windows; the business income worksheet filed with your agent; the refrigeration maintenance agreement and proof it was in force; sprinkler, alarm and hood suppression inspection and impairment records, plus any impairment notices sent.
Product and stock
inventory at the time of loss by SKU, lot, location and packaging type; raw materials, work in process and finished goods at cost and at selling price, including sold-but-undelivered orders; temperature logs, data-logger exports and alarm history for every cold room; FSIS retain tags, hold records and disposition records; state embargo or detention notices and seal numbers; the lab sampling plan and chain of custody, with an independent sampler; the fire department's list of suppression agents; photos and video of every storage area before anything moves.
Operations and income
three to five years of monthly P&Ls, production volumes, capacity and shift schedules, plus the current budget and forecast; customer contracts, purchase orders and seasonal order books with penalty, short-ship or exclusivity terms; payroll registers, noting who was kept on and why; the extra expense ledger; a supplier and customer concentration list.
Cause and equipment
hot work permits, contractor contracts and certificates of insurance; maintenance logs for fryers, ovens, dryers, boilers, conveyors and dust collectors; refrigeration PLC and alarm logs, defrost schedules and override records; the dust hazard analysis, housekeeping records and NFPA 660 file; panel specifications and a site map of panel core types; utility outage tickets, generator run logs and fuel deliveries; the fire department report request and any fire marshal, ATF, CSB or OSHA case numbers.
Regulatory
HACCP plan, the post-loss reassessment record and Sanitation SOPs; FSIS establishment number and grant of inspection documents; FDA food facility registration number and any updates filed; DSHS license certificate and number; every agency letter, order and deadline in one log.
The insurance company's adjuster works for the insurance company.
After a major loss, the carrier sends its own adjuster, and often a forensic accountant and engineering consultants, all retained by the insurer. They are competent and they are not neutral; their job is to resolve the claim on terms favorable to the company that pays them. A public adjuster is the licensed counterweight: we represent the policyholder only, we build and present the claim, and we negotiate the settlement.
On a food plant loss the asymmetry is the whole problem. The carrier brings cause-and-origin investigators, engineers, laboratories, salvors and forensic accountants. We document the full loss with the same rigor, and we are paid a percentage of what we recover, so our incentive is your number. We are licensed public adjusters, not attorneys: when a question turns on how the law or the policy language applies in a dispute, or involves salvage transfers, recall terms, investigators or third parties, we work alongside your attorney rather than in place of one.
What happens after you call.
Loss review and policy analysis
We read the actual policy - limits, coinsurance, BI provisions, spoilage and contamination terms, ordinance-or-law, exclusions - and assess the full scope before anyone commits to a number.
Document everything, including the latent contamination
Structure, equipment, spoiled and contaminated stock, and contamination outside the burn area. We bring in industrial hygienists and food-safety experts to document what the carrier's walkthrough misses, while the evidence still exists.
Build the business-interruption claim, modeled several ways
From real production and financial records: seasonality, lead times, the sanitation and re-inspection ramp, and the right look-back baseline, modeled independently and used against each other to substantiate the full loss.
Present, negotiate, and settle
We present the documented claim, contest the predictable shortfalls, and negotiate the settlement on your behalf through to resolution.
Questions food and beverage processors ask.
Can food exposed to smoke in a processing plant be salvaged?
Sometimes, and packaging decides a lot of it. Smoke travels well beyond the burn, freezer seals are not airtight, and sealed cans or jars near heat can look fine but be unsafe. Metal and heavy foil resist ammonia best, while kraft paper and waxed cardboard are extremely permeable. Independent testing, lot by lot, is what settles it.
Who decides whether fire-damaged food must be destroyed?
Not the insurer alone. In FSIS plants, inspectors retain adulterated product the plant fails to control. For FDA-regulated food, the owner decides together with state and local authorities, and in Texas, DSHS may detain or embargo distressed food under the Salvage Act. Questions about a specific salvage sale belong with your attorney.
Does commercial property insurance cover food spoilage after a power outage?
Only if your policy includes it. The ISO spoilage endorsement covers the perils you selected, such as power outage, and excludes a utility's failure from lack of fuel or a government order, switching off power, and too little on-site generating capacity. Utility services coverage needs physical damage to the selected utility property.
What is the difference between spoilage coverage and equipment breakdown coverage?
Spoilage coverage pays for perishable stock lost to the perils you scheduled, with its own limit and deductible. Equipment breakdown spoilage needs an accident to covered equipment, and specimen forms cap it at $25,000 to $100,000. Check the actual sublimits on your schedule.
Is lost production covered if the utility's lines failed and our plant was not damaged?
Possibly, under utility services time element coverage, if it was added. It needs physical damage to the utility property you selected, overhead lines are a separate choice, and planned shutoffs or rolling blackouts are not covered. Whether an exclusion applies to your outage is a question for your attorney.
How is business income calculated for a food manufacturer?
Lost production at net sales value, minus costs that stop, plus extra expense. Income coverage starts 72 hours after the loss; extra expense starts at once. For a seasonal producer, project from the season's order book and prior seasons, not a trailing monthly average.
Does insurance pay for a co-packer while our plant is rebuilt?
Extra expense coverage pays added costs to keep operating, which can include a co-packer's price difference, freight and relabeling. A Texas firm that puts its name on co-packed product needs a DSHS Food Manufacturer license. Get approvals in writing and keep every invoice.
How long does it take to reopen a food plant after a fire?
Longer than the repair. Tyson's Holcomb plant planned full operations about five months after a fire in its electrical and hydraulic section. In 2026, medium-voltage switchgear ran 52 to 80 weeks and ammonia screw compressors 16 to 32 weeks, and FSIS, FDA and DSHS steps add time.
Does a product recall policy cover a fire or contamination at our plant?
A recall policy is separate from property insurance, and terms vary. One insurer lists recall, destruction, rehabilitation and business interruption costs. Some triggers require contamination likely to cause bodily injury, and in one reported case a recall claim of about $3 million failed on several grounds. Applying those terms is a question for your attorney.
What happens to my claim if a sprinkler or hood suppression system was impaired?
Under the ISO protective safeguards endorsement, fire loss can be excluded if a known impairment went unreported, with a 48-hour exception for breakage, leakage or freezing. Pull inspection and impairment-notice records right away. How the condition applies in a dispute is for your attorney.
The carrier wants a sworn proof of loss and an examination under oath. Is that normal?
Yes. The standard form lets the insurer require a sworn proof of loss within 60 days of its request, examine your books, take samples and question insureds under oath. The 60 days run from the request, so note the date it arrives.
Can a public adjuster handle a food processing plant claim in Texas?
Yes. Texas licenses public adjusters through TDI, and a commercial policy delivered, issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2024 may not prohibit you from hiring one. Public adjusters may not practice law, so legal questions go to your attorney. You may cancel a public adjuster contract in writing within 72 hours of signing.
What does it cost to hire a public adjuster?
We work on a percentage of the recovery, with no upfront cost. We're only paid if and when you recover, which aligns our incentive with maximizing your settlement. Fee specifics are discussed up front before you commit to anything.
Tell us what happened. We'll tell you straight whether you have a fight worth having.
No cost, no obligation. The fastest path is the phone - for a major loss, call and talk to a person today. A licensed Texas public insurance adjuster will review the loss with you.
713-369-4300Start a claim review
Tell us what happened. A licensed Texas public adjuster will review the loss with you, and tell you straight whether you have a fight worth having. The review is free.
For fire claims, we call you back within 1 hour and visit your property within 24 hours or less.
A major loss is decided in the first moves. Make yours count.
Talk to a public adjuster who works only for you. No upfront cost - we're paid a percentage only if you recover.
713-369-4300Crossroads Insurance Recovery Advocates · TDI License 1924788
This page is general educational information about commercial property claims, not legal advice or advice on your specific claim. Crossroads Insurance Recovery Advocates, Texas public adjuster entity license #1924788.
Don't take our word for it
- Kansas Livestock Association: Holcomb plant set to reopen in December (2019)
- Feedstuffs: Operations at Tyson beef plant to resume soon (2019)
- FoodNavigator: Tyson to reopen fire-damaged Kansas plant (2019)
- TSCRA: Tyson beef plant to resume operations in December (2019)
- DTN: Tyson to rebuild Kansas plant (2019)
- Powder & Bulk Solids: 3,800 Tyson Foods employees out of work after fire (2019)
- Meatingplace: Fire hits beef packing plant in Texas Panhandle (2026)
- NewsChannel 10: Officials give update on Preferred Beef Group fire (2026)
- NewsChannel 10: Fire at Preferred Beef plant impacts 94 Booker ISD families (2026)
- CBS Texas: Greenberg Turkeys refunds orders after fire (2020)
- CSB: Final report on Imperial Sugar disaster (2009)
- CSB: Millard Refrigerated Services case study (2015)
- GAO/RCED-95-76: Salvaged food, lessons learned from the Americold fire (1995)
- FactCheck.org: food plant fires review (2022)
- Powder & Bulk Solids: Fire safety stakeholders respond to food plant fires rumor (2022)
- Powder & Bulk Solids: NFPA data on manufacturing property fires (2018)
- Powder & Bulk Solids: Tortilla chip waste explodes at Texas food plant (2018)
- Powder & Bulk Solids: CSB combustible dust incident data (2018)
- Processing Magazine: 2022 combustible dust incident report summary
- Dust Safety Science: incident reporting
- Risk Logic: Large-loss commercial fires in 2016 (NFPA list)
- NWPB: Finley warehouse has burned for 7 weeks (2024)
- FireRescue1: Washington cold storage warehouse continues to burn (2024)
- Lineage: Kennewick response (2024)
- NBC Los Angeles: Boyle Heights food storage warehouse fire (2026)
- NBC Los Angeles: Boyle Heights warehouse final cleanup complete (2026)
- USDA FSIS: Fires and Food Safety
- FSIS Directive 5000.3: Segregation and disposition of product
- FSIS Directive 5000.7: Establishments in areas affected by natural disasters
- eCFR: 9 CFR 417.4, HACCP reassessment
- Federal Register: Amendments to Registration of Food Facilities (2016)
- FDA: Investigations Operations Manual 2026, chapter 8
- FDA: How to dispose of contaminated or spoiled food
- Mass. DPH: Food salvage and reconditioning guidelines
- Marsh: Risk consulting for the food and beverage industry
- Texas Health and Safety Code ch. 432 (Texas Salvage Act)
- Texas DSHS: Food manufacturers
- Texas DSHS: Laws and rules for food manufacturers and warehouses
- Texas DSHS: Food wholesaler license application EF23-10505
- Texas DSHS: Licensing
- Texas Legislature: SB 1803 bill analysis (2003)
- Texas Comptroller: Food supply chain (2021)
- USDA NASS: Capacity of Refrigerated Warehouses (2026)
- Processing Magazine: NFPA 660, what processors need to know (2025)
- Aviva: Composite panels loss prevention standard (2026)
- UK Home Office FRDG 3/97: Fire safety of large insulated sandwich panels
- ABC13: CenterPoint Beryl outage updates (2024)
- Brownfield Ag News: Uri dairy losses (2021)
- AP via WBFF: Outages and icy conditions hobble food supply (2021)
- TDI: February 2021 winter weather data call summary
- TDI Bulletin B-0014-24: Hurricane Beryl catastrophe designation
- ISO CP 00 30 business income and extra expense specimen
- insurancexdate: CP 00 30 and related endorsements
- insurancexdate: CP 04 40 spoilage
- insurancexdate: CP 04 17 utility services, direct damage
- insurancexdate: CP 15 45 utility services, time element
- ISO CP 04 11 protective safeguards specimen
- HSB equipment breakdown specimen
- Fremont equipment breakdown specimen
- Victor: BOP spoilage coverage form
- AIG: Contaminated products insurance
- Reinhart: Double-check your product contamination insurance policy (2015)
- FC&S: Product loss not covered by spoilage endorsement (2012)
- FC&S: Spoilage loss requires mechanical breakdown (2012)
- FC&S: Utility services exclusion and extra expense claim (2013)
- FC&S: Utility services time element coverage (2020)
- Business Insurance: Policy responses to Sandy time element losses (2013)
- Foley & Lardner: The grid's bottleneck isn't just money, it's materials (2026)
- Terrapin Construction Group: Cold storage refrigeration timeline (2026)
- insurancexdate: CP 04 05 ordinance or law
- TDI: Commercial property filing checklist
- Texas Supreme Court: In re Ace American Insurance Co., No. 25-0461 (2026)
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.055, claim acknowledgment
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.056, claim decision
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.057, payment
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.059, weather catastrophe extension
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.060, damages for late payment
- Tex. Ins. Code ch. 4102, public adjusters