The Creamery Burned, and 5,600 Pounds of Milk Had Nowhere to Go
A June 18 fire near Ahtanum destroyed Jacob Fruer’s creamery and caused $1,500 in damage — only about half covered by insurance.
Jacob Fruer was in Seattle this week and informed us that his creamery at Ahtanum was destroyed by fire June 18, loss $1,500, about one-half of which was covered by insurance. This is rather discouraging for Mr. Fruer, but we hope he will keep up courage and succeed in starting up the creamery again. At the time of the loss he was receiving 5,600 pounds of milk a day.
“At the time of the loss he was receiving 5,600 pounds of milk a day.”
Rural creameries were the processing backbone for dairy farms, and losing one stranded milk producers while exposing how thinly insured small agricultural businesses could be. Yakima Valley agriculture still depends on processing and cold-chain infrastructure, and a single fire can still take a family operation offline for a season.
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