Fire at FX Matt
Major fire breaks out in packaging area
A massive fire broke out today at the F.X. Matt Brewery in Utica, NY. The fire apparently began in the canning/bottling area on the third floor. A local news station reported that there are major cracks in the walls of the burning building visible.
The report also said that two brewery employees have been taken to Saint Elizabeth Medical Center and are currently in satisfactory condition.
All streets within a six-block radius have been closed. Residents who live on these streets have been evacuated.
The fire continues to burn at 7:00 pm Eastern time.
More details to follow as they become available.
FX Matts is near and dear to all of our hearts here on the east coast, and hopefully everywhere. The Matt family has been involved in the brewing industry for 120 years. They survived prohibition, and I hope will survive this. I know Fred and Nick Matt personally, and they are two of the most stand-up guys I have ever met. They love beer, and their passion has inspired me for many years. The brewery itself was a piece of brewing history. Some may even refer to it as a museum. The collection of beer memorabilia that was housed there will be forever missed. My heart goes out to them, and all Saranac customers. As I write this, I am sipping the last of a Saranac Pale Ale, which was in my fridge before this tragic event. A great beer, one that brought me into the craft beer world many years ago. I hope I will be able to taste this beer again, fresh from the brewery. Nick, Fred you have my support and respect.
Cheers,
Tim
Hundreds of beer fans who had gathered to attend “Saranac Thursday” at the F.X. Matt Brewing Co. watched as one of Utica’s most venerable businesses became the scene this evening of an inferno that gutted the brewery’s packaging plant.
“We will rebuild,” vice president Fred Matt. “We’ve been in business 120 years. This is a speed bump.”
The fire was called in at 5:03 p.m., just as the brewery’s Saranac Thursday kicked off.
Thought to be small at first, the fire flared in intensity in a part of the brewery behind the music concert stage. Headline band The Bomb began to play, then the music and fun ended as flames licked skyward.
Very soon, the destructive scope of the blaze became clear. Fire departments and aerial trucks were called in from around the region as a black smoke rolled across the sky, visible from South Utica and surrounding hillsides.
A key objective in fighting the fire was preventing it from reaching a large ammonia tank. If that tank had overheated and exploded, it might have leveled the building, Utica Fire Chief Russell Brooks said.