After 87,000 turkeys exploded in fire, Greenberg shuts down for holiday season

Greenberg Smoked Turkey, Inc. in Tyler, Texas, will halt all of its smoked turkey production for the rest of 2020 after a fire and at least two explosions destroyed part of the facility on Nov. 6.

The company sells about 200,000 smoked turkeys every holiday season. The Greenberg family has grown the 82-year-old smoked-bird business into a “holiday obsession,” The Dallas Morning News wrote in 1998. The famous East Texas turkey landed on Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Things” list in 2003.

Owner Sam Greenberg, the grandson of the founder by the same name, says a mechanical failure started a fire in one of the company facilities on Nov. 6. A freezer holding 87,000 turkeys exploded and burned the boxes and bags nearby, which are used to ship hundreds of thousands of turkeys during the company’s busiest season.

No one was hurt. A team of 24 firefighters fought the blaze and its aftermath for nearly two days, says Paul Findley, Tyler fire marshal and public information officer.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2020/11/09/after-87000-turkeys-exploded-in-fire-greenberg-shuts-down-for-holiday-season/

Does anybody want their turkey well done?