Abandoned Sugar Factory Fire in Longmont, CO, Under Investigation
The Denver Post
(TNS)
A building at the abandoned sugar factory near Longmont caught fire just after midnight Tuesday and burned through the night, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies and fire crews arrived at the factory, in the 11900 block of Sugar Mill Road on the southeast side of Longmont, the two-story building was already engulfed in flames, sheriff’s officials said in a news release.
Crews were not able to fight the fire because of hazardous materials inside the building and weather conditions, sheriff’s officials said. Instead, they monitored the building while it burned overnight.
Sheriff’s officials said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Sugar Mill Road was closed Tuesday morning and authorities said people should avoid the area.
The Mountain View Fire Department, Longmont Fire Department, Longmont Police Department and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office all responded to the early morning fire.
This isn’t the first time the factory, which closed its doors in 1977, has burned.
Fires sparked in 2016 in a former tool room on the property, which caused part of the building to collapse; on Christmas morning in 2017; in 2020 in a collapsed building on the property’s southside; and in August 2024, according to the Longmont Times-Call. Longmont Fire Department officials told the Times-Call that they are called out to fires at the factory at least once a year.
Firefighters tried to put out the flames in last August’s fire but eventually let the fire burn itself out for safety reasons, according to the Longmont news outlet.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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