Quick action after ammonia leak at Royal Ridge Fruit

ROYAL CITY - Nobody was ever in grave danger from an Aug. 10 ammonia leak incident reported last week in The Royal Register, according to Grant County Fire District No. 10 chief Eric Linn.

He praised Royal Ridge Fruit leadership and personnel for quick action and good work.

After the anhydrous ammonia leak at Royal Ridge Fruit occurred at around 7 a.m., The Grant County Sheriff's Office issued a shelter in place (go indoors and protect yourself) order for people and businesses within one mile of Royal Ridge, which is located in the Port of Royal Slope Industrial Park. It canceled the order later.

The leak was attended to and repaired in quick fashion, Linn said. During that process, the men working on the leak encountered a second leak. Fearing the possibility of an explosion, Royal Ridge officials evacuated the building and area.

"Everyone was safe," Linn said.

An explosion did occur and there was a fire, but Linn's fire crews did not aid in extinguishing it.

"At the most, the fire lasted two minutes," Linn said. "Their automatic fire control system put it out. Their sprinklers worked."

But GCFD No. 10 personnel stayed around for a while, Linn said. They helped shut valves on the ammonia cold storage system. They also helped ventilate the area where the fire and explosion occurred.

Linn said there was fire damage in the building and to equipment. He had no way of estimating the loss, financially, because he had no experience with the equipment.

"It all looks pretty expensive," he said.