Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Williamsport, PA – Fire that started inside machine contained by sprinkler activation

All employees at Lycoming Engines at High and Oliver streets in the city were safely evacuated when a deburring machine caught fire on the first floor about 10 a.m. Monday, city Deputy Chief Dave Dymeck said.

The fire activated a sprinkler that helped contain it, Dymeck said, adding that firefighters donned self-contained breathing apparatuses, entered the mammoth complex with hoses and had the fire out in 30 minutes.

Employees were allowed back in once the building was declared safe, Dymeck.

“This was an accidental fire,” he said, adding that fire damage was confined to the machine.

Second alarm companies from Old Lycoming Township and South Williamsport were called to the scene as a precautionary measure.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Franklin, IN – Fire at local business contained to storage room thanks to fire sprinklers; No injuries reported

A business in Franklin’s commercial district sustained damage in a Sunday night fire.

Franklin firefighters were dispatched to BCC Products, 2140 Earlywood Drive, on a general business alarm at 5:26 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they could not see any fire from the outside of the business, said Chuck Ridpath, spokesman for the Franklin Fire Department.

Firefighters got into the building and saw heavy smoke. After about 30 minutes of searching the building for the fire, firefighters were led to a wire rack where a gallon container of liquid was on fire, Ridpath said.

The sprinkler system in the building contained the fire to the storage room, he said, and once fire fighters located the fire, it was put out in minutes.

No one was injured in the blaze and investigators are still looking into the exact cause of the fire. The monetary damage of the fire was unknown mid-Monday morning, Ridpath said.

Greenwood’s hazmat team was called to contain chemicals that had spilled. The Indiana Department of Emergency Management is investigating what chemicals leaked, because firefighters came into contact with those chemicals, he said.

“There is no danger to the public. It is more of the guys that were there to see if there is anything that can be bad for them,” Ridpath said.

Firefighters from Bargersville, Whiteland, New Whitehead and Amity also responded to the fire. Firefighters from Needham covered Franklin’s station during the fire, he said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Watertown, NY – Sprinkler system at manufacturing facility extinguishes fire

A sprinkler system inside a Watertown manufacturing facility did its job late Wednesday afternoon and put out a small fire.

Firefighters were called to the Jefferson County Industrial Park off outer Coffeen Street to Allied Motion a little before 3 p.m.

Fire officials told 7 News a spark from equipment in a testing and quality control room set off a small fire above a drop-down ceiling.

The sprinkler system put out the fire, but firefighters had to do smoke removal.

Fire officials say damage was moderate. The building was evacuated.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

South Elgin, IL -Fire at manufacturing plant controlled by fire sprinkler activation; No injuries reported

A fire at a manufacturing plant in South Elgin caused no injuries and did not involve hazardous chemicals, fire officials said.

The South Elgin & Countryside Fire Protection District responded at 8:27 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a structure fire at Marble Works, 1601 N. La Fox St., Assistant Fire Chief Mike Rothecker said in a news release Wednesday.

Firefighters were met by two employees outside the 15,000-square-foot building who said there was a large fire inside the manufacturing plant. The employees said there were some hazardous chemicals near the fire, the release said.

Firefighters entered, saw heavy smoke and requested additional help. Fire departments from Elgin, Bartlett, Fox River Fire, Pingree Grove and Elburn assisted at the scene. Departments from Hanover Park, Geneva, Hampshire and West Dundee filled in at the South Elgin fire stations.

The fire was in the warehouse area of the manufacturing plant building, Rothecker said. The building’s fire sprinkler system was activated by the fire and contained the flames until firefighters extinguished it in about 40 minutes.

Members of the South Elgin fire district’s hazardous materials team determined there were no hazardous chemicals involved in the fire, officials said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Manufacturing, 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.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

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.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

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. 

Food Processing, Manufacturing

South Beloit, IL – Sprinkler system quickly contains commercial fryer fire

A commercial fryer caught fire Tuesday at Axium Foods and caused about $70,000 in damages.

The fire was reported about 8:15 p.m.

Firefighters arrived at the plant, 239 Oak Grove Ave., to find 20 to 30 employees outside and heavy smoke inside the plant.

“The (overhead) sprinkler system activated pretty quickly and kept the fire contained,” South Belolit Fire Chief Michael Davenport said. “We had the fire under control in about 15 minutes and the fire completely out in 20 minutes.”

Axium Foods, at times a three-shift operation, is a corn-based snack food manufacturer making chips and other products.

“The fire started in the fry unit of the oven,” Davenport said.

The cause of the fire, however, remains under investigation. Damage was estimated at $50,000 to the machinery and $20,000 to product lost. Rockton Fire Department assisted.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Strasburg, VA – Sprinkler system keeps fire contained to machinery at paper mill

Mercury Paper evacuated its Strasburg plant when a fire started in a building Friday morning.

The Shenandoah County Emergency Communications Center received a call at 3:41 a.m. from someone at the scene who reported a fire in one of the buildings, Shannon Walters, service assistant for the Shenandoah County Department of Fire and Rescue, said Friday.

Employees evacuated the facility, Deputy Chief Billy Streett said. Responders checked out one employee on the site for smoke inhalation who refused transport to the hospital, Streett said.

The fire started in a piece of equipment in a processing area of the plant, Streett added. Employees and then the plant’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire by the time fire and rescue crews arrived, he said, explaining that employees worked on putting out the blaze but flames grew to the point that the fire triggered the sprinklers. The sprinkler system kept the fire contained to the machinery.

Crews cleared the scene at 5:28 a.m., Walters said. Fire stations in Strasburg, Toms Brook and Middletown responded to the call along with rescue squads in Strasburg and Woodstock.

Fire and rescue workers have responded to other emergencies at Mercury Paper, Streett said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

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.