Harper’s Country Ham Catches Fire

Harpers+Country+Ham+Catches+Fire

Kaelin Rowell, Messenger Reporter

Feb 14

This past week has been a hard week for my family. My grandmother, who passed away from Multiple Myeloma, passed thirteen years ago this week. Two days later, her place of employment went up in a mass of flames and smoke. Harper’s Country Hams, in Clinton, Kentucky has always had a special place in many people’s hearts.

A call to 911 was made ten minutes before 6 o’clock a.m. when the 100,000 square foot facility caught fire. The fire took a long time to contain, and a vast majority of the company was left in shambles.

Kentucky’s governor, Matt Bevin, tweeted about the tragedy. “We just received news of a fire at Harper’s Foods, a fixture in the Clinton, KY community for generations. We are thankful for those fighting this fire, and pray the situation will soon be resolved. #WeAreKY”

Kentucky 1st District Congressman James Comer also commented on the fire saying: “I was saddened today to hear about the news about the devastating fire that burned Harper’s Country Hams. Thankfully no one died in the fire, but the loss on the community is terrible. As a well-known business in Hickman County, it is an important part of many people’s lives in western Kentucky. Our thoughts are with the firefighters, the employees and their families today.”

The cause of the fire remains unknown, but thankfully  no one was hurt. “We don’t know what our future plans are,” Deloris Harper, president of the company, said.