Arturo Fuente Endures Loss as Warehouse Fire Claims Aged Tobacco

Fire is a repeating chapter in the history of Arturo Fuente and a new episode has been added this week when a warehouse with a million pounds of aged tobacco was lost to the flames in Villa Gonzalez, Dominican Republic.

The fire broke out around 5:30 on Wednesday afternoon and firefighters were on the scene for hours. The blaze wasn’t fully extinguished until about 2:35 this morning.

“It is painful but most importantly everyone is OK, thank God,” said Carlos Fuente Jr., owner of Arturo Fuente Cigar Co. “Just a massive loss of irreplaceable aged tobacco. Lots of tobacco from Chateau de la Fuente, among others.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

While the loss of so much tobacco and the warehouse in which it was stored it a setback, Fuente Jr. expressed some relief that it wasn’t worse. The tobacco warehouse—located in a Fuente free zone and known as Warehouse #3—is one of several in that area owned by Fuente.

“Thank God it happened during the day and the fire was contained before spreading to the other buildings on both sides,” Fuente added.

“Fire, trials and tribulations have been a way of life for us,” Fuente said. “It will only continue to forge our determination to move forward and prevail. We lost a lot, but never, ever our faith and will.”