Belfast potato plant faces uncertain future after devastating fire

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 25, 2022

Two months after a devastating fire ripped through the Penobscot McCrum potato processing plant on the Belfast waterfront, the site has been cleared and the downtown entrance to the Belfast Rail Trail has been reopened to the public. So far, what’s next for the property is not publicly known, and efforts this week to speak with representatives of Penobscot McCrum were not immediately successful. The family-owned company’s headquarters are located in Belfast, where 138 people were employed at the processing factory that was destroyed in the March 24 fire. But the company’s field operations and a new fry plant processing facility are located in Aroostook County, and even before the fire, the Washburn plant had been scheduled to increase production.