Fire Destroys South Dakota Honey Company Building

A weekend fire destroyed a building at the Taylor Honey Co. in the northeastern South Dakota town of Andover, but the company owner and others say the incident could have been worse.

The Sunday afternoon fire started in the engine of a fuel-powered pump that two workers were using inside the building, Fire Chief Torre Raap said. One man was treated at the scene for minor burns.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the honey company building but a few homes nearby were evacuated as a precaution.

Sue Clynick, who lives a block away from the building, said she could hear explosions and see pieces of steel flying through the air.

“You could just hear poof, poof; it was just scary,” she told the American News. “It could have been really bad here in Andover.”

Fire departments from four area towns were called in to help battle the blaze, KDLT-TV reported. Smoke from the fire could be seen more than 20 miles away.

The building contained beeswax, honeycombs and other items, but no honey.

“Fortunately, we’re kind of wrapping up the honey harvest,” business owner Paul Taylor told the newspaper. “In this area, we just finished last week. The honey had been shipped off.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.