Last week, Greenhouse Grower reported on a weekend fire at Grower Direct Farms in Somers, CT. We recently caught up with Sam Smith, co-owner of Grower Direct Farms, to learn more about how the fire will affect spring and fall orders and production, how the local community responded, and how Grower Direct is moving forward.
“The fire broke out at the center of our business: the boiler plant, production spaces, office space, and the shipping dock. To a lesser degree, there was some light damage to greenhouse spaces that abut that center area.
“Fortunately for us, firefighters were successful in containing it to the center of the business, so it did not spread, in a significant way, into the growing spaces. So we were a little surprised to find that everything that has been planted is in good condition, and we expect it to ship this spring. It was a scramble to establish emergency electricity, water, and heat to the growing spaces, because the fire took out our communications hub and the central boiler plant. We’ve been establishing temporary services to all of those other houses so that the finished product can still make it to market later this spring.
“Our plan right now is to ship our intended orders for the spring using a combination of what’s already been planted and then filling that in with some finished product that we will purchase to fill in the gaps of what we can’t plant.
“As a company, we’re separated into two facilities a couple miles apart. That second facility is where we do 90% of our garden mums for the fall. So our mums will go out as scheduled without any problems, so long as we can get a few temporary services set up at the main plant. But we don’t think that’s going to be a problem. Right now we’re preoccupied with setting up some of those emergency services so that employees can start to get some rhythm of normalcy. I think we’re going to ship 99% of our orders this spring. Without the boiler plant, I’d expect we’ll need some partners to help us with poinsettias. But what have other growers lined up for that.
“I think some of the real tough questions will come when we talk about rebuilding. We’ll need to rebuild growing spaces that have been built incrementally over the past 30 years, with each preceding decision influencing the next one. Once you wipe that slate clean, you’ve got an opportunity to improve or revisit some of the decisions of the past. It sets off a chain reaction of calculations that can be time consuming to try and work through. Those questions are going to be daunting, and we will need counsel from those who can give us advice. Once we gain a little bit of perspective, we’ll sort out some of those questions.
Local Community All Hands on Deck
“When the fire broke out, 31 fire departments responded to the repeated calls for support. The way that they conducted themselves was truly impressive. They struck a fantastic balance between protecting the safety of the firefighters while fighting the fire as aggressively as possible. They had some real challenges, because there were things like polypropylene and styrene. Once that stuff lights, you can’t put it out.
“We’ve been fortunate to have the community, both locally and across the state of Connecticut, reach out in various ways large and small offering help and encouragement. We’ve seen the fruit from 40 years of this company investing in other organizations in the community, and it’s been nice to see that there’s so many people that have been positively impacted by our company.
“I’m hopeful that once the investigations are complete, we learn something that’s useful enough to be shared with the broader greenhouse community that they can take and apply towards either fire prevention or risk mitigation. There are things that you might learn that would make you more capable of navigating a crisis in your business.”
