Employees react to large Anchor Glass Plant fire in Henryetta
HENRYETTA, Okla. (KTUL) — Just like clock work, employees at Anchor Glass Container Plant headed into work on Thursday, but they're not making bottles, they've assembled to pick of the pieces from Wednesday's devastating fire.
"It was unbelievable," said Blake Wilson, an employee at the Plant. "I just couldn't believe it."
"I guess this was one of the worse," said employee Christian Zorichak.
"My first reaction was making sure my friends were OK," said Ethan Morrison, whose worked at the plant for nearly five years.
Morrison says he frantically headed into work for his overnight shift, not knowing much about the fire and the coworkers who were inside.
"I've known these guys basically my whole life," said Morrison. "We've grown up together. Once I found out everyone was safe, my next thought is my career."
Seventy-five people were inside at the time, luckily all got out.
But the fire put everything on hold. It started just before 9 p.m. in the basement.
Henryetta Fire Chief, David Bullard says there was a leak in an oil line and with hot equipment running constantly, it was easy for this to get out of control.
"I's pretty rough. I've never seen it in this state before," said Morrison. "We've got a couple machines built in the '40s and '50s, and those probably can't replace those because they don't make the parts anymore. "
According to Chief Bullard, the fire damaged two out of the six shops inside.
Now, the town is wondering what comes next?
"If this places goes down, this whole town's gone," said Morrison. "It revolves around it, the entire Okmulgee County."
Luckily, that doesn't seem to be the case and even though production has stopped, employees assessing the damage is still a good sign for the future.
