LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thousands of whiskey Barrels crashed into a massive heap Friday when a large section of a decades-old storage warehouse collapsed at a distillery in the heart of Kentucky bourbon country.
"We are assessing how many of the impacted barrels can be recovered," said Amy Preske, a spokeswoman for Sazerac, a Louisiana-based spirits company.
It expects to be open for tours Saturday and to resume normal business operations Monday, Preske said in a statement.
Initial water samples showed no signs of contamination, Nelson County Emergency Management director Joe Prewitt said.
About half the structure holding the rest of the barrels was still standing, said Milt Spalding, a spokesman for the local emergency management agency.
Bardstown fire Chief Billy Mattingly said crews had been working on the warehouse earlier in the week.
Kentucky's bourbon sector is in the midst of a more than $1.1 billion boom that includes expanded production facilities, more storage warehouses and new tourism centers.
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