Crews extinguish massive fire at Portales peanut plant

Portales peanut plant goes up in flames

Multiple departments responded to the fire. People are being asked to be careful in the area.

PORTALES, N.M. — Crews from six departments battled a massive fire for five hours at a peanut plant in Portales before getting it under control Monday.

Seven members of the Portales Fire Department responded to a reported large fire in the area outside a commercial building near U.S. Highway 70 and South Roosevelt Road P at 3:33 p.m. Monday.

When they arrived, they saw the fire spread to several areas inside and outside the Hampton Farms Peanut Plant. They called in off-duty personnel to help.

They found one person injured, prompting paramedics to the scene. They took that person to Roosevelt General Hospital.

At around 8:26 p.m., crews finally got the fire under control. However, it took 27 units and 34 firefighters from six departments, including Portales, Clovis, Floyd and Arch, to do that.

The scene is still active. Now, the New Mexico State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating to figure out what caused the fire.