After a devastating fire, Taylor Farms turned to DG to get their facility operational in time for the growing season.

An early-morning fire destroyed Taylor Farms’ Salinas facility. Only we had the expertise to get them back in business.

During the early morning hours of April 13, 2022, what had started as a small fire in the wall of Taylor Farms’ Salinas facility was quickly getting out of hand. Fire companies responding to the four-alarm fire ordered mandatory evacuations within a mile of the plant and broader shelter in place orders until they could confirm the flammable ammonia—located on site for refrigeration—was secured. The fire was in an older wood-framed section of the building housing the pro[duction space, and fire walls kept it contained as crews struggled to get the situation under control. Luckily, with Taylor Farms just starting to transition all its equipment from the Yuma, AZ facility back to Salinas, CA to follow the leafy green growing season, there were no employees on site.

With 52 trucks of equipment, control panels, and utilities queued up in Arizona with nowhere to go, there was no time to waste.

Every year, Taylor Farms breaks down and transports their production lines between California and Arizona to be near where the produce is grown. From April to November, they process and package leafy greens in their California facilities and then shift to Arizona for December through March. They have several production facilities in Salinas, but the one damaged by fire was their highest capacity plant serving food service clients. As the team assessed options for how to continue to fulfill customer orders while rebuilding, it was decided to keep Yuma operational, while also adding production capabilities to a Taylor Farms’ owned warehouse in California called River Ranch. Within two weeks, River Ranch was outfitted with temporary refrigeration skids as well as equipment.

By the second week in May, a mere four weeks after the devastating fire, the complex demolition effort began. While the existing fire walls had contained the fire to a 60,000 SF area within the 225,000 SF footprint of Taylor Farms’ facility, intense heat had damaged much of the surrounding walls. Between the structural insecurity and the fact that the surrounding warehouse, offices, and employee amenity areas were untouched by the fire, demolition had to be carefully orchestrated to avoid further damage.

While demolition was happening, the Dennis Group and Taylor Farms engineering teams took the opportunity presented by a blank slate to completely redesign the production space and improve the equipment layout, personnel flow, and sanitary design. The height of the area was increased to allow a sanitary walk-on ceiling. 60 power panels and many cable trays now distribute electricity to equipment below. The ceiling is refrigerated at the same temperature as the production area (34 degrees Fahrenheit) to avoid condensation. The entire refrigeration system was replaced, and an ammonia alarm system was put in. A staggering 9.2 miles of piping was installed within a four-month period to accommodate the 26 production lines.

Two new 4k amp electrical services are part of the design. They are housed on the roof since there was no available space within the building footprint. A large structural support system was designed to accommodate the additional weight.

Lettuce processing is water intensive. Since process water needs to be chilled to 33-35 degrees, a heat exchanger is used to capture some of that cooling energy from wastewater that is being pumped out to the city and transfer it to chill the 70-degree fresh water. The high-capacity wastewater system is designed to process 1 million gallons of water daily, with peak flows of up to 2,000 gallons per minute.

Dennis Group pulled out all the stops to get this project completed as quickly as possible. The goal was to have the facility operational within a year for the April 2023 season. A 12-month timeframe under the best circumstances is difficult, but supply chain delays as well as labor availability made construction of this type within a year almost impossible. Compounding the already short schedule, an atmospheric river flooded California with the heaviest rains seen in January and February, delaying civil work. The daunting schedule as well as unexpected delays meant the team had to be creative and nimble. During procurement, some scopes of work had to be split among several contractors to be completed in time while others had to be bid out to as many as 13 different companies nationwide to find one that could meet the schedule. Yet despite the rapid execution of this project, the team retained a spotless safety record over the 250,000 labor hours required to complete it.

While Dennis Group turned over the facility to Taylor Farms on schedule in April, Project Manager Astrid Paredes observed how this project showcases the best aspects of Dennis Group’s project delivery. “This was a true team effort, requiring long hours and close collaboration between our departments to deliver a state-of-art facility on schedule. The client trusted us, and we delivered. It’s a project we can all be proud of.”