Category Archives: Manufacturing Plant

La Vergne, TN – Material that caught on fire at plant contained by sprinkler system

A fire was reported at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at Bridgestone Firestone Distribution Center in La Vergne, a city official confirmed.

The sprinkler system was activated after material in the plant caught on fire, said Anne Smith, public relations officer for the city of La Vergne.

“The fire only caused minor damage to the building,” Smith said. 

Two occupants sought medical care at the nurse station at the plant, where they were treated for minor injuries.

Smith said Rutherford County EMS was called to Bridgestone, but it is unclear whether the patients were transported to a medical facility, Smith said.

No other information is available at this time. This is a developing story.

San Antonio, TX – Sprinkler system puts out fire at local plant; No injuries reported

Nearly 30 fire crews responded to a report of a 2-alarm fire at a facility on the Northeast Side on Friday morning.

The fire was reported at about 6 a.m. at a plant located at Nacogdoches Road and Wurzbach Parkway.

Aerial footage showed several people were evacuated from the building; they stood in the parking lot as fire crews worked inside and outside the plant.

The San Antonio Fire Department reported the fire was out by 7:30 a.m. and crews were working to ventilate the building. An agency spokesperson said the fire may have started with the machinery; it was extinguished by the sprinkler system.

No one was hurt.

Jefferson, OH – Sprinkler system knocks down fire after plant explosion; No injuries reported

No one was injured in Friday night’s Worthington Industries cylinders plant explosion and fire, said Fire Chief Tom Lachey of the Jefferson Fire Department.

Employees evacuated the manufacturing plant, 863 Route 307, when a fire broke out at about 10:10 p.m. on the northwest wall and ceiling of the building.

“We feel (the cause of) it was propane-related in the heating units,” Lachey said. 

Everyone made it out safely, he said.

Area residents heard an explosion followed by sirens, making many wonder what happened.

East Jefferson Street resident Linda Masirovits said she was standing at her kitchen sink at about 10:15 p.m. when she heard a boom.

“It was a really loud, scary, long boom,” she said. “It shook our house and sounded like it was right above the roof.”

Her daughter, Wendy Stainfield, heard and felt the explosion several miles away on Webster Road in Lenox Township, she said.

Investigators believe the fire started in heating units that recirculate air throughout the plant.  

It took Jefferson Fire Department, assisted by Plymouth, Pierpont, Dorset, Austinburg and Ashtabula townships’ fire departments, about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters stayed on the scene until about 1 a.m., Lachey said.

“The fire was contained; the sprinkler system went off and knocked down a lot of the fire,” he said. 

Massillon, OH – Sprinkler system stops fire from spreading on production line

Firefighters quickly extinguished a fire in a production line Saturday night at Shearers Foods.

Crews were called to the plant at 4100 Millennium Blvd. SE, just before 10 p.m.

When firefighters arrived smoke was coming from the roof, Assistant Chief Paul Harbaugh said. The production line was in the south side of the building.

Personnel had been evacuated from the building and the sprinkler system had been triggered, he said. The fire was contained to the line and did not impact the structure.

Shearers maintenance personnel ventilated the building.

Perry Fire Department provided a medical unit.

South Chesterfield, VA – Boiler room explosion caused fire contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Chesterfield County Fire and EMS responded to an explosion at Fiorucci Foods’ processing plant near Ruffin Mill Road early Friday morning. About 50 firefighters, including six engines and three ladder trucks with supervisors and medics responded to a call at 5:41 a.m.

The Fiorucci brand makes Italian lunch meats like Coppa, Salami and Prosciutto.

The explosion occurred inside a compressor for one of the facility’s boilers. Shifts were already at work during the incident, but no injuries were recorded. The boiler room is made with blast doors to protect against an incident of this kind.

“These blast doors are made with a purpose for these situations so that if anything does happen, these will open up and the force will go upward, as opposed to outward,” said Lt. Jason Elmore of Chesterfield County Fire and EMS.

Damage was limited to the blast doors and the boiler itself.

“They’re going to have to repair that area in there to get that part of the process back open,” Elmore said. “They were working today on utilizing some of their other coolers and refrigerants to get as much accomplished as possible.”

Chesterfield County crews spent the morning clearing the factory of smoke before staff could be let back in. The building was returned to the occupant around lunchtime.

“The one good thing is these blast doors operated so there could have been more damage,” Elmore said. “The force would have been outward instead of upward. Also, the sprinkler system activated and contained the fire that was in the boiler room … That’s what they’re designed to do and that’s what happened.”

The Department of Agriculture will have to be consulted for safety and cleanliness before the area can reopen. Elmore said he expects the facility to be closed for “at least a 24 hour period, if not longer.”

Findlay, OH – Fire at factory kept under control by fire sprinklers until fire crews arrived; No injuries reported

Firefighters are on the scene of a fire a factory in Findlay Wednesday morning.

Officials say a fire broke out at Sausser Steel Company on Laquineo St. around 4 a.m. or 4:30 a.m.

Authorities say the fire engulfed a corner of the building.

The Findlay Fire Department says the building’s sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading further before crews arrived.

No one was in the building at the time and no one was injured.

The fire has since been put out and is now under investigation.

Laquineo Street is now back open.

Hopedale, MA – Fire sprinkler system stops fire at concrete business from spreading; No injuries reported

A fire early Thursday morning at a concrete business on Rosenfeld Drive caused an unknown amount of damage and prompted the response of a Tier 1 Hazardous Materials Team, according to fire officials.

In a Facebook post, fire officials said rapid response to a central station alarm and a working sprinkler system at Marguerite Concrete Inc. saved it from getting worse.

Fire Chief Thomas Daige could not be reached for comment on Saturday. There was no report of any injuries.

But according to the Facebook post, firefighters received a call at 3:13 a.m. Thursday from an alarm company reporting a central station alarm at Marguerite Concrete at 11 Rosenfeld Drive. While en route to the scene, firefighters received word that two vehicles at the site were engulfed in flames, fire officials reported.

Upon arrival, firefighters discovered the two fiery vehicles parked near a cage of propane tanks, fire officials reported.

Mutual aid from the Bellingham, Hopkinton and Milford departments was called to the scene after further investigation revealed that smoke was billowing from an overhead door, said fire officials. Upton provided station coverage for Hopedale.

Because the building was equipped with a sprinkler system, it prevented the fire from extending further into the building, fire officials said, adding that after the blaze came into contact with several 55-gallon drums, an odor began seeping from the drums, along with an oil leak.

At this time, a Tier 1 hazmat team – which responds to incidents presenting little risk to the environment or to public health, according to the National Fire Protection Association, was requested to respond to the scene, said fire officials. After an investigation, the team determined there was no further health or fire risk.

James Marguerite, president of the concrete construction company, was then notified to request a hazmat cleanup company to respond to check out the 55-gallon drums. A call placed to Marguerite on Saturday was not immediately returned.

The Department of Environmental Protection was also notified, said fire officials.

At the time of the alarm, only two firefighters were on duty at the Hopedale Fire Department’s headquarters, according to fire officials. As a result, multiple off-duty personnel were called in from home, and arrived on-scene 10 to 14 minutes after the on-duty crew to assist with the fire. In all, 24 firefighters responded to the fire.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Nantucket, MA – Landfill fire held in check by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

It took Nantucket firefighters about two and a half hours early Saturday morning to extinguish a blaze that started in a pile of debris in the construction and demolition waste building at the Madaket landfill.

No one was injured and no equipment damaged in the fire, which was reported via alarm at about 4 a.m., fire chief Steve Murphy said.

“The duty crew was already attending to an ambulance call and fire alarm (at the time),” Murphy said. “Deputy chief Robert Bates responded, finding heavy smoke in the C&D building with sprinkler-system activation. After clearing the previous fire alarm the duty crew responded with the engine, as well as off-duty personnel responding from home. Crews extinguished the remaining fire with the help of machinery on site used to pull the pile apart to reach the buried fire.”

Firefighters were on the scene until approximately 6:30 a.m. The fire is believed to be accidental in origin, Murphy said. The three-headed sprinkler system inside the building activated and worked as intended to hold the fire in check until their crew could respond, he added.

“No equipment was damaged and the building appeared to sustain only minor damage,” Murphy said. “We are very grateful the sprinkler system did its job.”

Landfill operations will not be impacted by the fire.

Jeffersonville, OH – Sprinkler system keeps fire under control at automotive parts plant

Shortly after 8 a.m. on Friday, firefighters responded to an active fire at TFO Tech in Jeffersonville.

According to the chief of the Jefferson Township Fire Department, Jeff Warner, there were approximately 20 firefighters in all who responded. Responders included Jefferson Township Fire and EMS along with mutual aid engines from Washington Court House and Silvercreek Township.

Warner explained there were approximately 15 TFO employees containing the fire until the responders arrived—they had used hoses and nearly 15 fire extinguishers. He said, “They were very helpful in keeping things under control until we got there.”

There was a sprinkler system in place at TFO that helped in keeping the fire under control—there was no structural damage. The fire was contained to one press which ignited during regular operation.

According to Warner, TFO reported the value of the press was $20 million. The extent of damage to the press is unknown at this time.

There are five other presses available for use, and TFO does not expect any delays in its supply of automotive parts to Honda.

The Washington Court House Fire Department (WCHFD) had four on-scene, including fire chief Tim Downing, according to WCHFD Capt. Ben Havens.

Havens said, “They had it under control when we arrived. We just helped them clean up a little bit, and then we were out of there.” Mutual aid was present in case their assistance was needed. WCHFD was back in-service at 9:30 a.m.

Southport, NY – Sprinkler system extinguished manufacturing fire before fire crews arrived

Southport Fire official Mike Smith says that an industrial air compressor failed at the Elmira Stamping and Manufacturing Tuesday morning.

Employees evacuated and a sprinkler system extinguished the fire before Southport and City of Elmira firefighters arrived.

UPDATE (8:08 a.m.) The fire has been put out. Fire crews are still on the scene to complete overhaul and clean-up.

According to the Southport Fire Department, the cause of the fire is unknown at this time. No injuries or damage to the building has been reported so far. 

The Southport and Pine City fire departments were on scene early Wednesday morning for a reported structure fire at 1704 Cedar Street in Southport.

Smoke can be seen around the Elmira Stamping Manufacturing Co. building. The call came in just before 7 a.m.

Our 18 News reporter on the scene says the smoke has decreased significantly.