Category Archives: Other – Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Naches, WA – Machinery fire at wood products manufacturer contained by sprinkler system

A smoking piece of machinery at Spinner Wood Products triggered an early morning response from the Naches and Gleed fire departments today. At about 4:11 a.m., firefighters responded to a fire alarm activated from the business, located at 10533 Old Naches Highway. Naches fire chief Alan Baird said the alarm was for a trip to the sprinkler system.

Baird said he originally upgraded the incident to a second-alarm fire as they didn’t know the size of the fire. It was determined that the fire originated in a piece of machinery used for printing names on pallets and bins. The combination of heat from the machine’s electrical motor and sawdust smoldered for hours, Baird said.

The fire was contained to the machine thanks to the sprinkler system, which activated over the machine in question. Baird said they wrapped up shortly after 6 a.m.; the fire chief added 10 firefighters were on scene.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Cincinnati, OH – Sprinkler system keeps fire from spreading at woodworking operation

Cincinnati firefighters say a sprinkler system helped keep a fire at a Linwood business from spreading. Crews were called to Wine Cellar Innovations in the 4500 block of Eastern Avenue just before 8:30 a.m. after workers witnessed smoke and fire coming from one of the company’s large dust collection/air filtration systems.

Firefighters encountered heavy smoke conditions on the manufacturing floor of a large industrial woodworking operation, but found the sprinkler system keeping the fire in check, CFD said. All the fire was contained to the sawdust within the hopper, CFD said. Firefighters had a hard time getting to the fire and were on scene for about four hours disassembling the machinery to ensure they had it completely out.

The majority of operations at the facility are now back up and operating, the fire department said. No injuries were reported.  Damage was estimated at $15,000.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Irvine, CA – Fire at metal finishing business held in check by sprinkler system

Firefighters worked 25 minutes Sunday to extinguish a blaze at a metal finishing company. The blaze was reported around 2:30 p.m. at Electrolurgy Inc. at 1121 Duryea Ave., said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.  Thick black smoke from the fire was visible on the 405 freeway, he added.

A sprinkler system in the business kept the flames in check and firefighters extinguished the blaze around 2:55 p.m., Concialdi said. An OCFA hazardous materials team responded because chemicals in the business were involved.  The cause of the fire is under investigation and damage estimates were not immediately available.

There were workers in the business when the fire broke out, but they managed to escape without injury.

Seven firefighters initially entered the building to extinguish the blaze and were decontaminated at the scene, Concialdi said. They were not injured. An OFCA hazardous materials team wearing protective gear later went into the business to determine what kind of chemicals were inside, said Concialdi.

It was determined the fire reached vats of liquid chromate, Concialdi said. A total of 40 firefighters responded.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Riverside, CA – Sprinkler system controls fire in paint booth

Sprinklers successfully doused a commercial paint booth fire, but paint and lacquer contaminated the water, which flowed into a storm drain and created a hazardous materials incident, say Riverside Fire Department officials.

(Blog Editor Note: Sprinkler systems use a small fraction of water compared to fire department hoses.  By controlling the fire as early as possible, sprinkler systems limit the amount of run-off and toxins released into the air)

The blaze was reported at 8:50 am. Monday, April 25, along the 11600 block of Sterling Avenue, just south of Hwy. 91 and across the street from two sets of railroad tracks and a flood control channel.

The trouble started when the tenant used a power saw to cut wood in the paint booth, Battalion Chief Tony Perna said in a written statement. The saw blade hit a screw, sparking the fire.

The heat-activated sprinkler system snuffed the flames. But about 500 gallons of contaminated water ran down a storm drain.

Firefighters diked the storm drain entrance to halt further contamination. And they alerted environmental agencies, sewer and storm drain workers, county flood control authorities, and even federal and state fish and wildlife officers.

The tenant and a worker suffered minor smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Redding, CA – Fire at silk-screening business put out by single sprinkler

An automatic sprinkler system extinguished a fire in a silk-screening business Saturday morning in the 17800 block of Construction Way.  Redding firefighters responded to a water-flow alarm at 10:10 a.m. When crews arrived, they found a single fire sprinkler head already had put out the flames.

The owner left the business at 9:45 p.m. Friday night and forgot to turn off a high-wattage heating lamp that’s used to dry silk-screening products, firefighters said. The lamp started a fire in material on a plastic, roll-away cart. Damage was estimated at less than $5,000.

The sprinkler saved thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment, inventory and the building, firefighters said.

Other - Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Lexington, KY – Fire at wood truss manufacturer controlled by sprinkler system

Lexington firefighters believe dry conditions may have contributed to the quick spread of a fire Tuesday night that damaged the Bluegrass Truss Co building on Lima Drive.

The fire department got a call from the building’s alarm company about 6:20 p.m. about smoke alarms going off, Battalion Chief Mark Harvey said. One person was in the building and called to confirm there was a fire when he saw the warehouse was filling with smoke.

Harvey said the fire likely started in a container for discarded cigarettes. The fire was ruled as an accident. The flames spread quickly up a side wall and into the roof and trusses, Harvey said. The sprinkler system helped keep the fire under control until firefighters arrived.

The building was damaged, but it would probably be able to be repaired quickly, Harvey said. Wind and dry conditions have led to a city-wide burn ban that will continue into Wednesday. Harvey said those conditions may have led to the quick spread of the fire on Lima Drive.

The fire department responded to several mulch fires throughout the day Tuesday that were also thought to be a result of dry conditions.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Brantford, ON, Canada – Overnight foundry fire contained with help from sprinkler system

Brantford Fire Department Platoon Chief Herb Van Der Made said at 1:25 a.m. firefighters from station 4 were called to the McLean Foundry at 247 Colborne St. W., where they could see smoke coming from the roof. A 911 call had come in from the foundry’s fire alarm company.   Van Der Made said the fire appears to have started in the older section of the foundry, which was built in the 1930s.  “We were met with a lot of heavy smoke going in, so we had to retreat,” he said.

The firefighters found another way in, through a rear bay door, where they proceeded to extinguish “a really intense” fire over the following two hours.  Holes were punched in the steel roof of the building’s younger section for ventilation, enabling aerial truck 9 to attack the fire from above.

 Van Der Made said a sprinkler system helped get the fire under control.  Part of the building’s back roof fell due the fire damage.  No one was working in the foundry overnight, and no one was hurt fighting the fire, according to Van Der Made.  The business owners showed up and helped firefighters to access the building.  Brantford police closed Colborne Street West from Shellard Lane to Lyndsay Street until at least 7 a.m.

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.

Other - Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Pasadena, TX – Sprinkler system activates to extinguish industrial chemical fire

(Fire Department Reported – NO MEDIA COVERAGE. Courtesy of City of Pasadena (Texas) Fire Marshal’s Office)

Fire Department Initial Response: On October 07, 2015, The Pasadena Fire Department along with several other agencies responded to 5000 Underwood for a reported industrial fire. Upon their arrival they discovered that a chemical explosion had occurred resulting in a fire. The buildings fire sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire. The fire sprinkler and alarm system functioned as designed notifying the occupants of the building who evacuated.

This incident shows the importance of an automatic fire sprinkler system and demonstrates that if the building did not have an automatic sprinkler system, the outcome could have been completely different.

Furthermore there is no doubt whatsoever that at the very least the presence of a sprinkler system saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and property loss to the building owners and potentially prevented citizens and firefighters from being injured or killed.’

Automatic fire sprinkler systems have over 100 years of proven performance in protecting life and property. For further information contact: Chief David Brannon, Fire Marshal 713-475-5556.

 

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Kilgore, TX – Sprinkler system contains fire at packaging manufacturer; Facility fully operational

All employees in the Pak-Sher facility Sunday night were out of the building in less than one minute after fire alarms alerted the 30 to 35 people inside to the danger.

“I actually do two fire drills a year because you never know what’s going to happen, just like what happened to us Sunday night, and the training paid off,” Pak-Sher Safety Coordinator Jeremy Spier said Tuesday morning, adding the company’s emergency response team was able to get everyone out of the building “promptly and safely.”

The fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, began in the building’s sample room between 8 and 9 p.m. Sunday night. Kilgore Fire Department responded, along with mutual aid from Sabine Volunteer Fire Department and Longview Fire Department, Assistant Kilgore Fire Chief Mike Simmons said.

“Heavy smoke was coming out of the west side of the building,” he said. By the time the fire crews responded, though, Pak-Sher President Troy Fischer said, the sprinkler systems had extinguished the majority of the fire.

The employees returned to work in the facility within two hours of the fire once they were cleared to do so by KFD, Fischer said. “We’re fully operational,” Spier said. “We’re good to go.”

With the sprinkler system and the firewalls, he said, the fire was contained to the sample room and did not affect the connected training room. “We do have some minor fire damage, some smoke and water damage as well,” Fischer wrote in an e-mail Monday night.

Even with 18 years of experience as a firefighter, Spier said, there is no way to truly prepare for an emergency, such as a fire.

“You can bring safety measures. You can do anything you can imagine and you think is 100 percent safe, but then again, in the safety business, it’s always ‘what if?’,” Spier said. “We were prepared as much as we can be prepared – our sprinkler systems were there, fire alarm went off. Everything worked like it was supposed to, so we were prepared that way. Absolutely. Everybody knew their emergency exits. Everybody got out like they were supposed to and in a very timely manner.”

Fischer explained the sample room is in a remote area of the building away from production space.

Although it has not been decided, Spier expected another room to be set up as the sample room because the current room will require more work, including new ceiling tiles, sheetrock and insulation.

“Thankfully it was not a bigger situation, and thankfully no employees were in any imminent danger,” Fischer said.

Kilgore Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Amanda Nobles said she and others at Kilgore EDC were grateful for the fire departments’ work.

“Pak-Sher is a valuable and primary employer in our community, and we hope that everything works out for them, and we’re glad there certainly was not more loss of property and absolutely no loss of life or injuries,” she said.