Category Archives: Other – Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Woodstock, ON, Canada – Fire in laser cutter at machining business contained with help from sprinklers

The Woodstock Fire Department said they responded to a structure fire at Harvan Engineering Ltd. Thursday at around 5 p.m.  When they arrived, fire crews found that staff had been evacuated and the sprinkler systems had been activated, allowing firefighters to extinguish the fire.

The cause of the fire was determined to be the result of a spark from the cutting process melting an oxygen supply line, igniting the oxygen supply and spreading to the machine housing. “This is an excellent example of a building’s life-safety systems minimizing the spread of a fire,” said Woodstock fire’s Deputy Fire Chief Jason Whiteley. “A working and properly maintained sprinkler system prevented the fire from leaving the piece of equipment and potentially destroying the facility.”

The Woodstock Fire Department said they would like to remind everyone that all fire and life-safety equipment should be checked monthly and have annual maintenance performed to ensure it will operate when needed.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Toronto, ON, Canada – Arson fire at cabinet manufacturing business extinguished by sprinkler system

Police are investigating a case of arson in North York after officers say a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of a cabinet manufacturing business Saturday night.

Toronto Fire Services got a call to respond to Modern Custom Cabinets on Chesswood Dr., near Finch Ave. W. and Dufferin St., at about 10:15 p.m. when the sprinkler system was activated at the business.  According to Toronto Fire, a small fire in the front office had been extinguished by the sprinkler system when firefighters arrived on scene.

Firefighters also found evidence of a Molotov cocktail at the site, but reported minor damage to the building.  The store appears to have been closed at the time of the fire, as no one was reported to be inside the building and no one was injured, police confirmed.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Evansville, IN – Sprinkler system helps to contain fire at industrial building

Firefighters Wednesday responded to a roof fire in part of the former Whirlpool building on U.S. 41 North now used as a warehouse.

Investigator Richard Howard said the alarm came in at 11:30 a.m. and when the first firefighters arrived two minutes later, there was heavy smoke coming from the roof area and some smoke from inside the building. Nobody was hurt in the fire and building sprinklers functioned normally.

The portion of the building where the fire occurred is used by GAF Materials Corporation to store asphalt shingles and other roofing products, Howard said. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

“The reports that we got from the people inside were that they had been smelling smoke for about an hour but they couldn’t locate the source,” Howard said. “They heard a pop and when they looked up it was the sprinkler head kicking off and that’s when they actually saw fire in upper portions of the building in the roof area.”

“They evacuated the building and called us. So, we do know that we have an operating sprinkler system inside. We are assuming right now that it helped suppress the fire, keep it under control until we could mop up,” Howard said. Howard said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

“I know that we had an incident here last week that was electrical in nature. I can tell you that is one thing I will be looking at but we also had a report that there was a crew on the roof up above that was on the roof working. So I have to find out if they were in that area and what they were doing,” Howard said.

Workers were able to go back inside Wednesday afternoon. “The building hasn’t been destroyed or anything,” he said. “There is smoke damage throughout the building and it was even forced into other areas besides their area,” Howard said. However, he said the industrial steel construction of the building made structural damage unlikely.

Whirlpool shut down refrigerator production at the Evansville plant in June 2010. The manufacturer maintained its refrigeration product design center at the site for a few years before announcing it would move that work to its Benton Harbor, Michigan headquarters. The last Whirlpool employees vacated the Evansville site in 2014.

Evansville developer The Kunkel Group acquired the Whirlpool building in 2011, rebranding it as a multi-tenant industrial park known as Park 41.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Roanoke, VA – Sprinklers activate to help contain chemical drum fire

(Blog Note – Smoke does not cause sprinklers to activate – Only the heat from a substantial fire)  A smoking chemical drum caused a precautionary evacuation at AkzoNobel in Roanoke on Wednesday. The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of Roanoke Avenue. Fire officials say when crews arrived smoke was coming from one of the buildings. Investigators say it was coming from a chemical drum.

The sprinkler system went off. Firefighters were able to remove the drum from the building. They were decontaminated by a Hazardous Materials Team. Investigators say the odor coming from the drum isn’t harmful unless you are in close proximity. According to officials, a contractor will be coming to help mitigate the situation. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management was also on the scene and are working with AkzoNobel.

The City of Roanoke sent out a reverse 911 call to 77 nearby homes and businesses to let them know what was going on. Officials hope more people will sign up for the citizen notification service.

Here’s a statement from AkzoNobel:

A drum of materials began smoking at approximately 12:30 pm today inside an auxiliary building at the AkzoNobel plant in Roanoke, Virginia. The smoke activated the fire alarm and sprinkler systems, and triggered a precautionary evacuation of all production workers. The incident was contained to a small building on the site, and there were no injuries or environmental releases.

The incident appears to have been caused when a single drum of material used to make coatings for kitchen cabinetry exceeded the optimum temperature. Three employees were working in this particular building at the time of the incident. The Roanoke Fire Department arrived on the scene a short time later and removed the drum of material from the building.

Production has been suspended, and is expected to resume tomorrow morning. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Rockingham, NC – Cotton mill fire held in check by sprinkler system

The sprinkler system at Wade Manufacturing kept a fire from spreading at the facility Wednesday afternoon. Rockingham Fire Chief Harold Isler said the department responded to the fire after receiving a commercial alarm call around 3:48 p.m. When crews arrived at the cotton fabric mill, smoke was showing from a door on the right side of the building on River Road, he said.

Once inside, firefighters discovered two bales of debris — swept up from the floor of the facility — on fire with open flames and heavy smoke. Isler said the bales “looked just like cotton.” “What kept it in check was the sprinkler system,” Isler said, which kept the fire dampened until fire crews could arrive.

 Using 300 feet of 1 ¾-inch hose, firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames. All damage was confined to the bales and there was no structural damage, nor were there any injuries to factory workers or firemen, according to the chief.

 The cause of the fire is still under investigation. “One of the biggest issues we had was getting the smoke out,” Isler said. In addition to the building’s exhaust fans, firefighters set up fans inside the building to help ventilate the facility. Cordova Fire and Rescue was called for mutual aid to make sure there were enough people on the scene, Isler said. Although some commercial calls turn out to be false alarms, Isler said, “You can’t take any of them lightly.”

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Lee’s Summit, MO – Small business saved from fire thanks to sprinkler system

An automatic fire sprinkler system at a commercial building in Lee’s Summit helped the business avoid major damage from a fire caused by malfunctioning equipment.

According to the Lee’s Summit Fire Department, emergency personnel responded at 7:34 p.m. Feb. 16 to R&D Tool and Engineering, 1008 SE Browning St. Multiple callers from inside the building reported a fire involving a piece of machinery. At the same time, the alarm company reported activation of the automatic fire sprinkler system and alarm.

When the fire department arrived, no smoke or fire was visible from the outside of the two-story building, which was being evacuated.

Fire officials said crews entered the building to find smoke inside the manufacturing portion of the building. A sprinkler head over a laser etching machine enclosure was activated by heat, and extinguished much of the fire, which was under control by 8:04 p.m.

According to fire officials, the sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading from plastic exhaust tubing coming out of the metal dust collector on top of the machine enclosure and up to the roof. The fire originated in the metal dust collection system.

Damage was limited to a small area on top of the machine enclosure with minor smoke damage to the remainder of the manufacturing area. Water did get into the equipment below.

Crews remained on scene to assist with getting smoke out the building and water removal. The building was later able to be reoccupied.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Conyers, GA – Sprinklers prevent early morning fire from spreading at printing company

A printing press caught fire at 4D Printing in Conyers Thursday morning, reported Rockdale News. The company’s sprinkler system was able to fully contain the fire before firefighters responded to the scene. When they arrived, fire crews saw moderate smoke coming from one side of the building and heavy smoke coming from the press. According to Rockdale News, firefighters put more water on the smoldering press and ventilated the building.

The sprinkler system had just been serviced and worked appropriately, activating when heat was sensed. This prevented the fire from spreading throughout the 30,000-square-foot facility and consuming the entire structure.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Yakima, WA – Fire at packaging company controlled with help from sprinkler system

Workers at Michelsen’s Packaging Company came back to work after a fire Tuesday.  Stacks of paper two stories high caught fire in Michelsen’s basement on North 2nd Ave.  The building’s sprinkler system helped control the flames.  It took firefighters more than 10 hours to clear the scene. No one was hurt. They’re still investigating how it started.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

DeKalb, IL – Overnight fire at wood products manufacturer contained with help from sprinkler system

The fire started in a dustbin at Premium Wood Products in DeKalb about 1 a.m. Friday, authorities said. Crews from the DeKalb Fire Department responded to an alarm at the business at 436 E. Locust St. at 12:54 a.m. When they arrived, they found heavy smoke and flames near a bin for collecting dust and wood shavings, according to a news release from the fire department.

The fire activated the sprinkler system, which controlled the fire until firefighters could extinguish it, the release said. Firefighters had the fire under control after about 45 minutes and remained on scene for about two more hours to ventilate the building. Crews determined the fire was accidental. Business operations resumed fully after the fire, authorities said.