LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Saturday marks an anniversary many in Lexington won't forget.
On January 30, 2016, long-standing facilities at the Blue Grass Stockyards complex were reduced to scraps of metal after the largest fire the city had seen in 30 years.
"10 acres and 100 years of history just gone in the about an hour, it was really devastating," Blue Grass Stockyards manager, Jeremy Shryock, said.
Several other businesses nearby were also destroyed in the blaze. It took more than 100 firefighters to battle the flames.
Investigators ruled that the fire was accidental, caused by a contractor error.
Blue Grass Stockyards moved from its longtime home off Leestown Road to a new site off Iron Works Pike next to the Kentucky Horse Park.
The new complex opened in 2017.
"I've been all over the United States and there's nothing that compares to it," rancher David Fitzpatrick, said. "Nothing."
Shryock said the facility really started to hit its stride last fall, with old customers starting to do business with them again.
"We knew it was going to be a battle and a process to get it back to the prestige and the glory we want to," Shryock said. "We're still not entirely there.
We just get up every day and put our best foot forward and stay positive and do what we have to do to keep moving forward."
