The Great Fire of 1898
Safety is one of my big concerns. The Aberlour distillery
may look a calm and peaceful place, but it is full of highly combustible
materials - notably the whisky. So we have to take infinite care
to avoid fires. One of the possible danger points is the room
where the malt is milled between powerful grinders, which generate
a lot of friction and heat.
It was here in the milling room that Aberlour's
Great Fire began back in 1898. One Saturday morning a spark from
the grinders ignited the barley dust that hung in the air. There
was a bang, and a skylight shattered. The workers shut down the
machine, cleared away the mess and went home, little knowing that
a stray ember had buried itself in the malt pile.
Sometime that night the malt burst into flame, and
soon the whole barn was ablaze. The crash of collapsing roof timbers
woke a carter next door, who rushed into the village to raise
the alarm. The church bell was rung as villagers turned out to
fetch buckets of water from the burn, but by then one whole side
of the distillery was beyond saving. The whisky in the store vat
had exploded and the spirit receiver had sprung a leak, the alcohol
burning as it ran out with an unearthly green flame.
The fire was not a total disaster. The excise office,
sanctuary of the tax man, was destroyed - with all its records!
Thanks to a generous insurance settlement the distillery was soon
restored in an even grander guise, with handsome new buildings,
up-to-date machinery and even electric lighting. And safety standards
became much more rigorous. Since that time, the mill room has
been kept well isolated from the rest of the works, and we take
every precaution to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself.
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