MAYFIELD, Ky. (WDRB) -- A tornado ripped through Mayfield in December, destroying a candle factory and killing nine people. Mayfield Consumer Products was torn apart by an EF-4 tornado.
Plant manager Michael Staten was headed into work that night. With emergency crews, Staten said he and others did what they could during the chaos.
"It was horrific," he said. "Our first focus was to get people in to the right tornado shelter areas.
"As tragic as it was, it was really a miracle, because we had over 100 people in the building that night."
The tornado killed nine people inside, tossed cars in the parking lot and left debris everywhere.
"I got the call around 9:15, 9:30 at night," Staten said. "My first thing was to call first responders. I did that. It took me three attempts to get through.
"I think a lot of what we did that night truly was a good effort in making sure we got as many people out, as possible. ... At the same time, there were other facilities that were open. It's a tornado this community has never seen."
Pictured: this what's left of the Mayfield Consumer Products 's candle factory in Mayfield, Ky., a year after a tornado tore through the town in the overnight hours of Dec. 10, 2021. Only damaged cars and some equipment remain where the factory once stood. (WDRB photo)
Survivors from the factory filed a lawsuit in the days after the storm, claiming their employer demonstrated “flagrant indifference” by refusing to allow employees to go home early as the storm approached the western Kentucky town. Staten said there was no directive that people had to work or they'd get fired.
"We did our own external investigation on that," he said. "We feel our team did everything right to get folks to shelter in place.
"We changed our policy to allow anyone to be able to sign out during their shift. That's a well-known thing that had been established in our company since COVID first hit in 2020 of that year. That is completely false."
Staten said he feels confident in what was done that night to save lives.
"I think everyone pulled together and focused and did all the right things to save the lives that we did," he said.
Now, more than two months later, it's still tough. The company is starting to rebuild and it's also dealing with heartbreak.
"Emotionally, we're getting through it," Staten said. "... We've got six chaplains and we have counselors to deal with the issues that come out of these types of events.
"We'll always remember the nine. They were part of our work family."
Among those killed was Graves County Deputy Jailer Robert Daniel. His brother, Alonzo Daniel, read a stone marker at his brother's gravesite, honored for his sacrifice:
"No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye. You were gone before we knew it and only God knows why."
"He did everything possible," Staten added. "He's a hero. He truly is. He'll never be forgotten either."
Some inmates were working at the candle factory through a work release program. When the tornado hit, Daniel jumped into action before everything collapsed.
He died in the Mayfield candle factory and is being remembered as a hero for helping save inmates on a work-release program during the tornado.
"He not only helped all seven of them get to the safety spot in the building," Alonzo Daniel said. "He was helping the other workers as well."
Alonzo Daniel said his 47-year-old brother worked at the jail for seven years. He left behind seven kids and seven grandchildren.
"Just being a believer in God, God had a plan for him, and that's what it was," Alonzo Daniel said.
Robert Daniel is now buried close to his mother's grave. To honor his brother's life, Alonzo Daniel is working with jail leadership to design his tombstone.
"(Jail staff were) thinking that the tombstone could be something that people come visit," he said. "And that's what he wanted — the sheriff's badge and stuff on it."
His family is getting help from the community, but it's been especially hard on his blind father.
"Not only did he lose his place that he lives but he also lost his son at the same time," Alonzo Daniel said. "He was dealing with a lot.
"So many people have reached out and helped in any way, whether financially, emotionally."
The factory site in Mayfield is now mostly clear now. Only damaged cars and some equipment remain.
Pictured: the exterior of a candle factory owned by Mayfield Consumer Products. The company moved its operations 10 miles north from Mayfield to Hickory, Ky., after its plant was destroyed by a tornado that tore through town in the overnight hours of Dec. 10, 2021. The factory employed about 500 people at the time, but only about half that number are at the new plant.
"With the facilities that we lost in Mayfield, we're going to add another 150,000 square feet to this building for some distribution space that we lost to the tornado," Staten said.
The candle factory employed about 500 people, and it's now moving to a new facility in Hickory, Kentucky, about 10 miles north of Mayfield. They chose to move because the Hickory facility already existed and just needed some changes to accommodate what was done in Mayfield.
The Hickory location will call back half of those workers to restart production.
"We're still training people, because it is newer equipment that we're bringing in," Staten said. "Our maintenance staff is still waiting on parts to come in due to supply chain issues. We're planning to hopefully get our first line in the first week of March."
Pictured: workers at Mayfield Consumer Products, a candle factory that moved its operations 10 miles north from Mayfield to Hickory, Ky., after its plant was destroyed by a tornado that tore through town in the overnight hours of Dec. 10, 2021. The factory employed about 500 people at the time, but only about half that number are at the new plant.
The rebuild in Mayfield will take time. At the same time, people in the community are remembering the friends, co-workers and family who are gone.
"Mayfield is strong and we will bounce back," Alonzo Daniel said. "(My brother) didn't just go in vain. He went out doing what he loved to do, which was helping."
On Wednesday on WDRB News, we'll share an incredible story of survival for a special needs teacher., how he's coping day-to-day and what gives him strength as he teaches some students who also lost everything in the storm.
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