Brazil-Meat Plant Fire.

BRAZIL-FIRE AT MEAT PLANT.

A fire destroyed part of a plant belonging to Perdigao, one of Brazil’s largest meatpackers, in the city of Rio Verde and forced the evacuation of the nearly 3,000 people working at the facility when the blaze broke out, the fire department said.

The fire started Saturday when a boiler exploded at the meatpacking plant.

The fire department in Rio Verde, which is in the central state of Goias, said it took six hours to bring the blaze under control.

Perdigao, one of the country’s largest meat exporters and producers of processed foods, said the fire was of "medium size" and affected its industrial food unit at the Rio Verde complex.

The wind caused the fire to shift and affect other sections of the industrial facility, the company said.

The plant was operating when the blaze started and the nearly 3,000 employees at the facility were immediately evacuated by the company’s fire brigade, Perdigao said.

No one suffered burns in the fire, but some employees were treated at hospitals for smoke inhalation and later released.

The company challenged initial fire department reports that the blaze was caused by an ammonia leak.

Perdigao, one of the world’s largest chicken and pork producers, said it was still trying to determine how much damage was caused by the fire.

The company, which makes pork sausage, pasta and other frozen foods, has been battling rival Sadia for the top spot in Brazil’s chicken and pork markets.