Overnight Fire at Topeka Frito-Lay Plant; No Injuries Reported

(Photo credit: Topeka Capital-Journal)TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Frito-Lay officials are determining how much damage was caused by a fire at the company's plant in south Topeka. No injuries were reported from the fire Wednesday night, which occurred in the company's biomass boiler plant. Fire investigator Michael Martin says Frito-Lay employees tried to douse the fire themselves for several minutes before calling for help. He says the fire started in the boiler fuel hopper system and is considered accidental. Martin says production continued at the plant because the fire was in a separate building.  The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the biomass boiler fuel hopper uses recycled organic product to heat the oil used to manufacture potato chips. The hopper system holds the organic waste used to fuel the boiler.