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A fire impacting one of the largest employers in the Midlands region of South Carolina has left hundreds of Palmetto State workers worried about their jobs.
Saluda County’s Amick Farms confirmed a blaze broke out at the company’s Batesburg, S.C. processing plant over the weekend. No one was injured in the fire – which erupted late Saturday (January 25, 2025) – although it did cause extensive damage to the facility and has left employees “worried as to what the future holds for them,” according to one source.
“On January 25, 2025, a fire broke out at our Batesburg, S.C. processing plant,” the company statement noted. “Thankfully, there were no injuries. We appreciate the extraordinary efforts of our local emergency responders, and we are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.”

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Workers were told not to report to the plant over the weekend – or to show up for Monday’s scheduled day shift.
When can they get back on the job?
“Support managers will be in touch with their team members on when to report,” the statement noted.
Firefighters and emergency responders from Saluda County confirmed they “fought the fire at Amick Farms last night (and) into this morning,” per a statement.
“A huge number of volunteer firefighters came together to combat a fire at one of the most important businesses in Saluda County,” the statement added.
A source close to the investigation told FITSNews there were issues with the facility’s sprinkler system – and initial problems accessing water from nearby fire hydrants.
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(Saluda County EMS)
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A homegrown Palmetto State business, Amick Farms was founded in Batesburg in 1941 by A.D. “Chick” Amick.
“With one small chicken house, a wood fired wash pot and 500 baby chicks, Amick packed fresh-dressed chicken in barrels of ice and loaded them on the back of a B-Model Ford for delivery,” the company’s website noted.
Amick Farms is now one of the top ten largest meat manufacturers in America with more than 3,500 employees, 500 family farm partners and three “totally integrated poultry production complexes.” A total of 1,770 employees work at the Batesburg plant, which is located approximately thirty miles west of the state capital in Columbia, S.C.
The blaze erupted at a particularly tough time for the poultry industry in the United States. Federal officials continue to track an outbreak of H5N1 avian flu across the country. Just last week, agriculture officials in Georgia located the flu in a commercial poultry operation located just seventy miles west-northwest of Amick Farms’ facility in Batesburg.
“This is a serious threat to Georgia’s No. 1 industry and the livelihoods of thousands of Georgians who make their living in our state’s poultry industry,” state agriculture commissioner Tyler Harper said.
Count on FITSNews to keep our audience up to speed on any new reports related to the origin of this fire and its impact on the Midlands’ economy…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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3 comments
Rumour has it that some of the fire hydrants around the plant had no water connected to them. Also, there was talk that the indoor fire sprinklers failed to deploy. Was there something more sinister in play, here?
Reminds me of some of the shenanigans in play with the Los Angeles fires.
Often, you will see patterns around the country, usually within the span of a week or so, where like type incidents occur 2, 3, or more times in rapid succession. Frequently, there will be fires or other incidents involving railways/trains, chemical plants, food processing plants, or other similar facilities. Have there been anymore big fires at food processing plants in the US recently?
If more occur in the next week or two, it bears watching. I hope there are no repeats of this, but we have seen it happen before.
Sounds to me like typical Saluda County administration.
How many illegals work there? Isn’t ICE offering $1500 per reported illegal? That could be a tidy sum.