Fire in San Carlos Completely Destroys Plant
A fire in Pital de San Carlos completely destroyed the Productos Agropecuarios VISA S.A. plant minutes after owner of the plant left the building shortly after 11pm.

The company exported Yuca and Pineapple mainly to the U.S.

The fire caused damage to the plant in excess of ¢800 million colones (us$1.7 million), destroying equipment and products, including some 8 containers ready to ship to the United States.

The plant had been in operation for more than 20 years in the same location and owners are asking authorities for a complete investigation, believing that the fire was set intentionally.

Accordint to a Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), the owners of the company were asked to stop paying their payroll at the plant to it's more than 200 employees based on an intelligence report that they suspected an assault, either at the plant or on the carriers of the money on route from the bank.

The company heeded the OIJ's recommendations and began paying it's employees by cheque, an uncommon practice in Costa Rica, meaning employees would have to make a visit to their local bank. (Most large employers in Costa Rica pay by direct deposit to the employee bank account.)

Authorities believe that the fire could be tied to the security changes made by the company and that the frustrate assailants may have set the fire in spite.