UPS Fire Damages 2,000 Packages Christmas Presents

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Dec 17, 2004 1:28PM

It might not be such a merry Christmas for 2,000 people in Denver, New Jersey and DeKalb. A fire early Thursday outside UPS's main package sorting center in the Southwest suburb of Hodgkins damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 packages bound for those destinations. .. and since it's this time of the year we're betting that many of them were Christmas presents. No one was injured in the fire, which is good, and the fire only hit 7 of the center's 1,257 docks. Within an hour the blaze was extinguished and it was back to work for the 1,200 employees who were evacuated.

Customers who were sending packages to Denver, New Jersey or DeKalb should check their packages on UPS's website using their tracking number. Every package damaged or destroyed is automatically insured for $100 and if the sender insured it for more than that, then they'll get more. UPS is also contacting customers whose packages were affected.. although if the package was destroyed or damaged too badly we imagine that could be difficult to do.. so probably best to check the site with your tracking number.

UPS estimates that 1 out of every 10 packages it delivers worldwide between Thanksgiving and Christmas passes through its center in Hodgkins. On Thursday about 2 million packages were expected to be processed there. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but foul play is not suspected.

Photo via NBC 4