Another Grady Co. Facility Full Of Hand Sanitizer Burns Down

A commercial fire fueled by expired hand sanitizer continues to burn. 

Multiple fire departments responded to the Ninnekah fire Wednesday. The commercial facility, used to store hand sanitizer, is one of three storage sites destroyed by fire in recent months.  

“A lot of people were saying you know that place burned up the road you know when was this going to catch on fire,” said Grady County Emergency Management Director Dale Thompson.  

Investigators with the Department of Environmental Quality and OSBI were both on site, again.  

It’s one of three locations under investigation following two fires that burned at two other facilities on August 7 and August 11. Wednesday’s site, according to the DEQ stored an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 pallets of expired alcohol.  

“When you’re dealing with an alcohol fire, a lot of times you cannot see the intense heat,” said Rodney Gregory, Interim Fire Chief for Ninnekah Fire Department.  

According to officials all three sites are leased by Brannan Bordwine, the owner of Bordwine Development.  

From the beginning, business owner Curtis Hart said he was leery of the operation.  

“I watched this shoddy operation going up last summer you know, and I said what is all this flammable stuff? It was an unbelievable amount,” said Hart.  

In a compliance order in late August, the DEQ ordered Bordwine Development to clean up the mess and to pay a fine totaling just over $6.6 million, the largest fine in DEQ history. 

Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the DEQ said the fine had not been paid. And despite claims by Bordwine that the hand sanitizer was being reprocessed and recycled, residents said the mess remained.  

“If you’re reprocessing and recycling, where’s your reprocessing going on here? I didn’t see any of it, last two months haven’t moved, haven’t touched it,” said Hart.  

Hart hopes to see Bordwine answer for his negligence.  

“People ought to be held accountable for what they do, and I don’t think any bankruptcy court or anything else should be able to save you,” said Hart.  

In an effort to prevent the alcohol from running into a nearby creek, firefighters said they planned to let the fire burn itself out. 

The Office of the State Fire Marshal and OSBI are investigating the fires.