Food Company Fires: Accidental or Suspicious?

Despite high-profile attention, accidents appear random with negligible impact on supply chains

(Illustration by The Epoch Times)

A string of fires at food processing plants across the country has led to intense speculation on social media as to whether the fires were accidental or the result of an intentional attack on critical food infrastructure.

To investigate whether there was truth to the latter, the team of EpochTV’s “Facts Matter” investigated claims of fires deemed suspicious on social media and in media reports.

The “Facts Matter” team found that most incidents cited of facilities allegedly catching fire in 2022 didn’t, in fact, happen this year. Many were lumped in from previous years.

In addition, the locations where fires did occur spanned a wide range of industries and the majority aren’t what would typically be considered a “high-value target” that in themselves could seriously impact the food supply chain.

For example, some of the facilities that caught fire included mom-and-pop delis, a locally run church food pantry, a potato chip factory, a small-town butcher shop, and a salad packaging facility.

While many of the incidents remain under investigation by authorities, some have already been cleared by local fire departments of any criminal intention.

Among those that were cleared, causes were determined to include faulty equipment, operator errors, or basic negligence.

The following is a partial list of fires that have broken out in 2022 at food processing facilities and what’s known about their current status in terms of damage and investigation.