Site prime Consolidated Nuclear Security planned a fundraiser Thursday to help cover some of the damages caused by recent wildfires near the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, the joint venture said in a press release.
The fires, which drew the attention of major news outlets, forced Pantex, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) nuclear-weapons service center, to briefly shut down while firefighters fought the blaze, which became the largest in Texas’ history.
Firefighters stopped the fires about three miles from Pantex’s “boundary,” Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) said in its release. The Pantex Fire Department built firebreaks, prepared the site for a worst-case scenario, and responded to nearby communities.
Also, CNS said in its release, “[s]everal Pantexans suffered property losses and minor injuries as a result of the fires.”
So, the company planned a on-site, lunch-time fundraiser, to begin at 11:00 a.m. local time and run through 1:00 p.m. on Thursday. Bechtel National, CNS’ majority owner, and Leidos, another CNS parent company, have respectively donated $25,000 and $10,000 to a local nonprofit, the United Way of Hutchinson County (Texas), according to the release.
Bechtel also offered to match up to $25,000 of contributions its employees make to Thursday’s planned fundraiser, according to the CNS release.
Editor’s note, April 04, 2024, 10:41 a.m. Eastern time. The story was corrected to show that funds raised will cover some costs of repairing damage caused by the fire.
