BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The Georgia Ports Authority’s chief executive said his agency is uncertain whether it will rebuild a vast warehouse at the Port of Brunswick that was destroyed in May when a giant pile of wood pellets inside caught fire.
“I want to make sure whatever we do, we do it right,” Griff Lynch, the port authority’s executive director, told city commissioners in Brunswick.
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Investigators believe the May 2 fire started when pellets being stored began to decompose and spontaneously combusted. The port authority owned the building, but it was operated by a private contractor.
A report by state investigators last month said workers first responded to the blaze with a private “fire brigade” and waited a full day before calling the fire department. No one was injured, but firefighters shut off gas lines to nearby homes and remained at the scene for weeks to make sure flames didn’t rekindle.
The warehouse that burned had been constructed in 2016 to replace two buildings destroyed by a previous fire, The Brunswick News reported.
Lynch and fellow port authority executive James McCurry Jr. told Brunswick commissioners that if they rebuild the warehouse, it will most likely be in a new location further from people’s homes. Lynch also said it’s uncertain whether wood pellets would be stored at the new facility.