MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) \u2014 The Mayfield Consumer Products factory was the third-biggest employer in this corner of western Kentucky, an important economic engine that\u2026<\/b>
\nMAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) \u2014 The Mayfield Consumer Products factory was the third-biggest employer in this corner of western Kentucky, an important economic engine that churned out candles that lined the shelves of malls around the U.S. But why its workers kept making candles Friday night as a tornado bore down on the region remains unclear as rescuers continue scouring the factory wreckage for signs of life. Kentucky\u2019s governor said Sunday the ferocity of the storm was so great that there was nowhere safe to hide inside the plant. \u201cIt appears most were sheltering in the place they were told to shelter,\u201d Gov. Andy Beshear said. \u201cI hope that area was as safe as it could be, but this thing got hit directly by the strongest tornado we could have possibly imagined.\u201d Of the 110 workers overnight Friday, Beshear said early Sunday that only 40 were rescued and it would be a miracle if any more were found alive. He said later on Sunday that it might be a \u201cbetter situation\u201d than initially feared as the state works to verify a worker headcount provided by the factory. Some workers said they had been told to huddle in a central hallway area, the strongest part of the building, as the storm approached. \u201cThat\u2019s where everybody is supposed to go,\u201d said Autumn Kirks, who worked at the plant with her boyfriend, who is still missing. \u201cWe stopped everything and tried to get as sheltered as we could.\u201d Kirks said an earlier weather warning siren during her shift prompted some workers to leave for the night. \u201cI know a lot of the workers left. We thought about it but decided against it,\u201d she said. The factory where she and her boyfriend worked employs many people in and around Mayfield, a city of about 10,000 in Kentucky\u2019s southwest corner. It is Graves County\u2019s third-biggest employer, according to the county\u2019s website. Even some inmates at the county jail have worked there. Scented candles made in the plant eventually found their way onto the shelves of prominent retailers like Bath & Body Works. The Ohio retailer said in a statement it was \u201cdevastated by the horrible loss of life at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory \u2013 a long-standing partner of ours.\u201d And this was high season in Mayfield for turning out gift candles as Christmas approaches. Shortly before the disaster, the company had posted on Facebook that it was looking to hire more people for 10- to 12-hour shifts involving fast-paced work and mandatory overtime. Most American candle-makers used to complete their holiday orders by early November, but labor shortages and other economic trends tied to the COVID-19 pandemic have extended crunch time well into December, said Kathy LaVanier, CEO of Ohio-based Renegade Candle Company and a board member at the National Candle Association. LaVanier said candle-makers around the U.S. are horrified by what happened in Kentucky and are trying to find ways to help. Unlike many manufactured products, most candles sold in the U.S. are American-made, in part thanks to hefty and longstanding tariffs on Chinese-made candles. \u201cAll of us in the candle business are reeling,\u201d she said. \u201cIt could have been any of us.\u201d LaVanier said regular disaster drills are important at candle plants, especially to include temporary workers who might have just arrived to fill a demand surge. But the way they are built \u2014 rarely with basements, and structured to accommodate long manufacturing lines \u2014 makes it hard to avoid damage when a truly devastating storm hits. \u201cIf we had enough advance notice and felt it was severe enough you might send people home,\u201d she said. Bryanna Travis,19, and Jarred Holmes,20, stood vigil near the rubble of the Mayfield candle factory Saturday where they had worked for months, usually for about $14.50 an hour. The engaged couple wasn\u2019t working when the storm hit. \u201cI worked with these people. I talked to these people. I tried to build connections with these people. And I don\u2019t know if one of my friends is gone,\u201d Holmes said. Holmes said there had been no drills during their time at the factory to prepare people in case of a storm. \u201cWe haven\u2019t had one since we\u2019ve been there,\u201d he said. Executives at Mayfield Consumer Products didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment Sunday. The company said in a statement on its website that it had started an emergency fund to help employees and their families. The company was founded in 1998 and split off from another firm several years ago. \u201cWe\u2019re heartbroken about this, and our immediate efforts are to assist those affected by this terrible disaster,\u201d CEO Troy Propes said in the statement. \u201cOur company is family-owned and our employees, some who have worked with us for many years, are cherished.\u201d Kentucky\u2019s state safety and health agency website lists a series of 12 safety violations at the factory in 2019, though it doesn\u2019t say what they were for. Beshear told CNN on Sunday that his understanding was that it did have an emergency plan. \u201cWe believe most of the workers got to what is supposed to be the safest place in the facility,\u201d he sad. \u201cBut when you see the damage that this storm did not just there but across the area, I\u2019m not sure there was a plan that would have worked.\u201d – O\u2019Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island. AP writer Bruce Schreiner contributed to this report. Copyright \u00a9 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.<\/p>\n