According to Halls Mayor Trent McManus, electrical problems could be to blame for the fire that destroyed Lauderdale County’s former Tupperware plastics factory, located in Halls, on Saturday, November 4.

“I’ve been told that the cause of the fire is electrical, however that has not yet been officially documented,” McManus said Monday, November 13. “I’ll be able to tell the public more when the investigation is complete,” added McManus.

Halls Fire Department and 10 neighboring county fire departments fought the blaze for nearly 5 days, rotating firefighters around the clock, until the explosive fire was extinguished Thursday of the following week.

McManus said Halls officials were released from fire-related duties Thursday, November 9, with the exception of Halls Fire department, which did not officially leave the scene until Friday, November 10.

Traffic also resumed Thursday on roads and streets that had been blocked off during the fire by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, including those off U.S. Highway 51 South leading east to the plant.

McManus says 1.5 million gallons of Halls city water was used during extinguishing efforts but that the town will be reimbursed for its expenses. McManus said there was never a concern about there being enough water for the rest of those served by the Halls Water Department.

“Town of Halls Water Department had enough capacity to fight the fire and provide the town’s daily supply,” said McManus.

McManus said the town of Halls did not have to pay the surrounding county firefighters for aiding in last week’s fire.

“There is a program that is supposed to reimburse all fire departments for some of their expenses,” McManus says.

Now that the fire is out, clean up efforts are underway. McManus says because the building was owned by Tupperware—not by the Town of Halls—city officials are not handling those efforts.

McManus said that before the building was destroyed, the city of Halls had high hopes that another factory would come in soon and occupy the building, thus bringing more employment to Lauderdale County.

McManus added, “It’s a great loss for both the city of Halls and Lauderdale County.”

McManus says he’ll be giving out public information concerning the fire as it becomes available.