A large fire tore through Augusta Sportwear’s (asi/37461) factory in Champotón, Mexico the night of April 18^th, impacting the Georgia-headquartered supplier’s production of sublimation products and wool jackets.

Thankfully, no injuries or deaths occurred, and all employees have been accounted for, the firm said. Media reports indicated the fire raged for hours. 

“We are grateful to the local fire services departments who reacted quickly and worked tirelessly throughout the night to contain the fire within our facility,” Augusta Sportswear said in a statement. “Our leadership team is on the ground in Mexico and is working with local authorities to understand the cause of the fire.”  

A report indicated that a short circuit may have provided the initial sparks, but a definitive cause remains under investigation.

Sublimation and wool jackets were the primary products produced at the factory and are thus the most affected product lines. The supplier noted that some of its Augusta Sportswear and Russell Athletic football styles in the facility were also impacted. “We will continue to offer these styles on our website but will not take backorders,” the company said in a statement.

Augusta Sportswear has been providing updates about what type of impacts the fire, which reportedly destroyed the factory, will have on orders.

In an April 20th update, for instance, Augusta said all stock varsity jacket orders that have inventory will ship as planned. Additionally, the company will continue to accept orders for all stock varsity jackets with active inventory. “However,” the supplier noted, “we are not accepting backorders on stock varsity jackets at this time.”

Meanwhile, Augusta Sportswear said it is evaluating various options to fulfill custom varsity jacket orders. It plans to share definitive plans early the week of April 24. “Unfortunately, we will not be accepting new custom orders until we finish the evaluation of options for current custom orders,” the company shared.

For sublimation-related orders in which art has been finalized, Augusta Sportswear said that it will provide a projected ship date by Monday, April 25 along with alternatives, including keeping the order with the new date, substituting the order for a blank item at a discount, or canceling the order. The firm is reaching out directly to customers on this.

For sublimation orders in art proofing or pre-production, Augusta Sportswear is “currently evaluating every single order to determine if we can accept and produce that order or potentially have to cancel and provide an alternative option,” the company said in a note to customers. “The art and customer service teams will facilitate this communication with you as these orders work through the process.”  

Notably, Augusta Sportswear said it will continue to offer an assortment of sublimated products that will be produced out of a second factory. “This factory is a new, state-of-the-art facility and is located in a completely different city and was unaffected by the fire,” the company said. “This assortment, which will not include our entire sublimation offering, will have a 20-day lead time and is now active.”