UTICA, N.Y. –Fire investigators believe a welding repair job may have sparked Thursday's fire at the FX Matt Brewery in Utica. Crews were back out there Friday, putting out some stubborn hot spots. The fire started in the bottling and packaging area of the plant and burned for more than 14 hours.
Utica Fire Marshal Raymond Beck said two employees had just finished welding brackets to a piece of machinery in the second floor bottling area when the fire erupted.
The Nick Matt, president of F.X. Matt, assessed the damage. He said other breweries have already reached out with offers to help get the company back on track.
Firefighters spent much of the day putting out hot spots at the F.X. Matt Brewery in Utica. Thursday's fire damaged the bottling and packaging area of the plant and may have been caused by a welding repair job. As our Iris St. Meran reports, despite the damage, the company plans to keep producing beer.
The president of the F.X. Matt Brewery talks to the media about Thursday's fire at the Utica landmark.
"The best part of this is it didn't affect our actual brewing and fermenting operations at all, or aging operations, and so, therefore, we will be able to continue to make beer, and we will get it packaged one way or another, I can assure you,” said Matt
The official cause of the fire has not been determined.