Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Longview, TX – Fire at manufacturing facility limited by sprinkler system

Longview Fire Chief Johnny Zackary says crews were called around 10:40 a.m. to the Crosby Manufacturing building, near Dana Way and LEDCO Drive in Longview. Zackary says by the time crews arrived, heavy black smoke was pouring from the building.

Construction crews were doing “hot work” when the fire started, removing vats that were part of the previous company’s operations. Zackary says it appears the vats were coated in residue used to put frame rails on vehicles, which was sparked by construction workers welding and cutting to remove the vats.

During the course of fighting the fire, Zackary says one firefighter fell from a catwalk; he was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, but Zackary says it appears the injury is non-life-threatening. Employees and construction crews inside the building at the time of the fire evacuated safely and there are no injuries reported.

Fire crews are still on scene helping with the recovery process. While the building took minimal damage, thanks to the water sprinkler system Zackary says, it did fill with smoke. Zackary says firefighters will continue monitoring the building until it is safe before assessing the extent of the damage.

Manufacturing Plant

Newport News, VA – Sprinkler system puts out fire at Continental manufacturing facility

A small fire at Continental in Newport News Wednesday caused about $30,000 in damage, an official said. Firefighter-medics responded to a report of the fire at the automotive parts manufacturer at 615 Bland Blvd. about 2:45 p.m., Battalion Chief Jerry Reed said at the scene. The company’s sprinkler system put out the fire by the time they arrived, Reed said. Fire crews stayed on scene to overhaul and assess the damage, he said. No injuries were reported.

Manufacturing Plant

Apison, TN – Fire in paint shop at manufacturing facility contained by sprinkler system

Tri-Community Volunteer Firefighters responded to a 9-1-1 call Thursday afternoon to a commercial business fire on Apison Pike.  Employees of Paladin Attachments, formally known as C&P Attachments, told firefighters that they were working in the Paint Shop and saw a hot spot on one of the filters.

They tried to cool it down, but it burst into flames.  Employees called 9-1-1 and safely evacuated. Firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the building.

The fire had spread and set off the sprinklers.  Firefighters say the sprinkler system did help stop the fire from destroying the entire business.  The Fire Marshall’s Office is looking into the cause of the blaze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Erlanger, KY – Following explosion at candy factory, sprinklers assist in controlling fires inside building

An explosion and fire at a Boone County candy factory is under investigation. Erlanger residents told WLWT they heard an explosion that shook their homes around 3 a.m. Friday.

 “Shortly after the first unit got out of the station, they could actually see the fire from the station,” Point Pleasant Fire Department Asst. Chief Bill Martin said.

Flames could be seen shooting out of the three-alarm fire at the Perfetti Van Melle plant. The factory makes all of the Airheads candy for North America. Officials said the silo that handles sugar for candy making exploded.

“Anytime you’re dealing with any kind of dust or whatever, you have a chance of explosion – that’s always a hazard in that kind of operation – there’s all kinds of dust hazards – this just happens to involve a sugar product,” Martin said.   Hundreds of employees made it out safely as dust in the form of sugar filled the air.

“They heard the explosion and took the necessary steps and made the call and got themselves out,” President and CEO PVM USA Mehmet Yuksek said.  The fire was brought under control around 4:30 a.m.

“I think the sprinkler system did its job for the most part. The fire that we saw and that was extinguished with the ladder pipe that we had up. The involvement inside the building was actually very limited by the sprinkler system,” said Point Pleasant Assistant Chief Bill Martin.

Meanwhile, employees were told to stay home on Friday.  Parfetti Van Melle President Mehmet Yuksek arrived on the scene early Friday morning.

“We’re actually trying to put the call on everyone, including the office and the first shift not to come because we won’t be operational. Until we know exactly what the damages are and what we need to do, we won’t be making any production,” said Yuksek.

Investigators are still trying to determine a cause.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Adairsville, GA – Fire caused by malfunctioning boiler in manufacturing plant contained by sprinklers

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A fire that broke out at a LG Hausys plant on Monday was determined to be caused by an internal malfunction on a boiler inside the plant.  Gordon County Fire and Rescue responded to the plant, located at 310 LG Drive, after calls for a fire were made around 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 23. Upon arrival, firefighters noted smoke showing on the backside of a large manufacturing building.

According to the incident report, maintenance personnel for the facility told fire officials that the area on fire was in a thermal boiler room, and upon further review, officials reported that there was obvious sprinkler activation, which had contained the fire to the area and prevented extension into the main facility.

Utilities were terminated in the area for salvage and overhaul to begin. Crews reported that it appeared a boiler had malfunctioned, causing the fire.  Portions of the wall and exhaust system were then removed to ensure fire damage had not escaped the boiler room.

Upon investigation, it was determined that the boiler had an internal malfunction that caused an oil line to fail, causing the fire around the ductwork of the boiler.  The boiler was leaking heavy oil and mitigation efforts were taken to minimize the spread of the oil into a runoff.  Further inspection revealed the roof had been compromised with thermal damage.

Fire Protection Services were then contacted to repair and reroute the protection systems to the manufacturing facility. Once completed, the facility was turned over to maintenance and management. According to the report, the fire caused approximately $14,000 of damage. No injuries were reported during the accident.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Lyndhurst, NJ – Sprinklers control fire in adjacent building after recycling plant fire jumps road

Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion and a third suffered a minor leg injury after they responded to a stubborn blaze that tore through a paper recycling plant on Page Avenue on Thursday, authorities said.

A skeleton crew of two workers was inside the NYNJ Recycling plant at 800 Page Ave. when the fire started but escaped without injury, said Chief Paul Haggerty of the Lyndhurst Fire Department.  A firefighter is taken away from the fire in Lyndhurst on a stretcher Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015.

The fire was reported around 11:30 a.m. and quickly went to a third alarm. At one point, the flames jumped across Page Avenue and caused minor damage to a plastics company in the industrial area, but a sprinkler system kept the fire in check and firefighters managed to save that building, Haggerty said.

Part of the large, flat-roofed brick building that housed the recycling company collapsed during the fire. About 50 firefighters from Lyndhurst and surrounding communities battled the blaze, Haggerty said.  Smoke from the fire billowed out of the structure and spread through much of the township. A Bergen County hazmat team tested air samples but found no harm to the public, the fire chief said.

Haggerty said he was out on a coffee run for his family just before the fire was called in. Although he couldn’t join his family on time for Thanksgiving dinner, his wife, Corrine, brought the food to him and his crew at the scene. She handed him a heated container filled with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn. “I packed extra forks for the guys, just in case they’re hungry,” she said.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation late Thursday afternoon.

 

The plant was formerly operated by Jem Sanitation Corp., a company that had ties to organized crime, according to a 2011 report by the state Commission of Investigation.

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Chesire, OH – Deluge sprinkler system extinguishes transformer fire at power plant

A transformer at General James M. Gavin Power Plant in Cheshire caught fire early Sunday afternoon, causing black smoke to rise that could be seen for miles across the Ohio Valley.

According to Tammy Ridout, manager for media relations and policy communications at AEP, the 1 p.m. Sunday fire was a caused by a failed generator step-up transformer on Gavin Plant Unit 2. This transformer is what handles the generator voltage and increases it to match the transmission line voltage so that power can leave the plant.

The plant is connected to the grid by 765 kilovolt transmission lines — the highest rated voltage in the U.S. The plant currently has about 275 employees. Middleport Fire Chief Jeff Darst said the fire occurred in what is known as Unit 2, where the tranformers are kept behind the plant and can’t be viewed from the road.

Pomeroy, Middleport and Rutland fire departments were called to the scene and no injuries were reported. Ridout said Unit 1 was not affected and remains in operation.

“The local fire departments were a big help in containing the fire,” Ridout said. “We’re still investigating the cause and are working on a recovery plan to restore the unit to operation.”

The Gavin Power Plant is located in Cheshire up the road from the smaller Kyger Creek Power Plant. It is a 2.6-gigawatt coal-fired power station — the largest facility of its kind in Ohio and one of the largest in the nation.  Cheshire resident Robert Roush said he could see the smoke from his home.

Ridout said that Meigs County fire stations, including Middleport, Pomeroy and Rutland fire departments, were called to the scene, but the flames were contained before they arrived. The fire was extinguished by a deluge system, or an activated sprinkler system, she said.

“Unfortunately, when you are dealing with large electrical equipment and there is some type of equipment failure, it can cause a fire,” Ridout said of the previous incident. “We have systems in place such as fire suppression systems, the fire brigade at the plant, training for our employees and relationships with local emergency responders and in this case, those systems worked and we were able to put the fire out safely.”

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Oak Ridge, TN – Fire in dust filtration system at manufacturing facility is contained by sprinkler system

More than 20 employees were briefly evacuated when a fire alarm sounded in a manufacturing facility where products are made from depleted uranium, but there was no radiological release.  The fire occurred about 9:30 a.m. Monday when dust in a filter system at Manufacturing Sciences Corp., S. Illinois Avenue, ignited.

“All it takes is a spark to set it off,” Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.  There’s a built-in sprinkler system that was activated and quelled the blaze. Kerley said there is “negative pressure” in the building where air is always pulled into it and is filtered. “Everything was contained in the building,” he said.

Manufacturing Sciences is also involved in special metals handling.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Santa Ana, CA – Sprinkler system helps minimize damage in fire at aluminum manufacturer; No injuries

Fire crews extinguished a fire inside an aluminum manufacturing business Thursday in Santa Ana, authorities said.   Fire Authority officials were called at 2 p.m. to a fire at Aluminum Precision Products in the 2600 block of South Susan Street, said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority.

The company makes die aluminum forgings for the aerospace industry.  Twenty employees were near a forging press machine when it caught fire. The blaze quickly spread to the roof where a sprinkler system was activated.

“An oily residue kept igniting the fire on the ceiling,” Concialdi said.   The fire was under control by 2:40 p.m.  A Fire Authority hazmat crew contained the runoff mixture of water and chemicals.

Fifty employees were inside the building when the fire broke out, but were able to exit safety. No one was reported injured.  Around 55 firefighters with OCFA and the Fountain Valley, Garden Grove and Huntington Beach fire departments responded to the building.

The cause of the fire was an unknown failure of the forging press machine. Damages were at least $50,000, Concialdi said.  It was not clear if the business would reopen Thursday. More to come.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Jackson, TN – Machine fire at automotive parts manufacturer suppressed by sprinkler system; Plant reopens next morning

The Jackson Fire Department was called to a fire at the UGN plant Monday after an injection mold machine malfunctioned and caught fire. According to Capt. David Thompson, damage from the fire was contained to the machine itself and its exhaust system. There was minimal damage to the plant, he said.

“It could’ve been [worse],” Thompson said. “If they didn’t have a good sprinkler system, the exhaust goes all the way up to the ceiling so there could have been a fire on the roof real quick. “Everything went the way it was supposed to,” Thompson said.

Thompson said UGN, which makes car parts, had to be shut down for the night, but is expected to be reopen this morning.