Portion of Greenberg Turkey Business burned

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Friday night, part of the Greenberg Smoke Turkey business burned. Authorities still don’t know what caused it.

East Texas News learned that it might be due to an explosion that happened in the processing and freezer building.

The Greenberg family has sold smoked turkeys since the 1940s. Friday night, around 8:30 p.m., a fire damaged some of the buildings.

“One’s more processing. That was full of cardboard and boxes and things like that, pallets. Behind me was a couple of large freezer buildings that were full of product,” said City of Tyler Fire Marshal, Paul Findley.

Across the street, Larry Harrison and his family were home. They shared what they heard and saw right before the fire truck got there.

“I just walked out the door and seen all the smoke and started to step back in to call the fire department and about that time there were several explosions that went off," Harrison said. "One of them blew a door off the building out into the street, and the next thing I knew there was more explosions. It sounds like a bunch of bombs going off. About that time, fire started coming out the roof of the building.”

Findley said the damage and loss are significant.

“A horrible time of year for this to occur," Findley said. "Tremendous amount of product in there, most if not all of which is gone now. It’s an unbelievable tragic incident, change of events.”

No one was in the building during the time of the fire, and the fire is still under investigation.

According to the Greenberg Smoked Turkeys Facebook post they say,

“We have temporarily suspended customer orders due to a fire at our facility, and we appreciate your patience as we continue evaluating the situation. We are extremely grateful that all of our employees are safe and healthy. Additional updates will be shared here and on our website. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for all the well wishes and prayers we have received.”

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