Category Archives: Manufacturing

Several Temple fire crews responded to a fire in a natural gas turbine at the Panda Power Plant in East Temple at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Temple Fire Department Training Chief Johnathan Christian said.

Temple Fire Chief Mitch Randles said the fire suppression system at the plant contained the fire but firefighters stayed on scene to make sure it did not spread.

Randles could not say for sure how the fire started but he said no one was injured.

When firefighters got to the plant, two engine crews had to hook up their hoses inside the plant, Christian said. The first crew put out most of the fire, with the help of the plant’s sprinkler system and fire suppression system.

Firefighters still had to work for at least an hour to put out hot spots once the main fire was under control.

Christian said there are always concerns with fires at power plants, but putting out this one was a smooth operation.

“Once they had a fire in the system, they shut down the whole turbine and generator,” he said. “Everything in the system was shut down.”

Five engines, one ladder truck and one command vehicle went to the scene. Christian said the plant has four turbines in total, and the other three are still working.

The Panda Temple Power Plant is a clean natural gas-fueled, 758-megawatt combined-cycle facility, according to the company’s website. The plant can supply the power needs of up to 750,000 homes, the website says.

The department will investigate how the fire started.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Ellensburg, WA – Automatic fire sprinklers extinguish fire at hay press caused by faulty light fixture; No injuries reported

June 28, 2019 viking210

An automatic fire sprinkler system helped save a hay press building near Ellensburg, according to a news release from Kittitas County Community Development Services.

At 6:46 Thursday morning, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue was dispatched to a commercial fire alarm at No. 9 Hay on Hungry Junction Road. The alarm company reported fire alarm activation with waterflow and sprinkler fire pump activation.

Several minutes later, a caller at the location notified Kittcom 911 that there was a confirmed fire in a hay press building.

Firefighters arrived to find a fire contained to a small area of the building near a mechanical room and quickly suppressed the fire.

The automatic fire sprinkler system was commissioned and put into service at the end of March of this year by the Kittitas County Fire Marshal. The sprinkler system and a new fire alarm system were installed secondary to the addition of a new press building at the facility

A fire began in a faulty light fixture in a mechanical room that quickly spread and activated three sprinkler heads at the ceiling of the steel building. The sprinkler system performed as it was intended and suppressed the fire, containing it to the area of origin until firefighters arrived to extinguish the fire.

The building suffered minimal damage. There are no reported injuries and work is underway to restore the facility to full operation soon.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Penticton, BC, Canada – Fire caused by forklift contained by fire sprinklers

June 18, 2019 viking210

Penticton fire crews were called to a blaze at Greenwood Forest Products just after 4:30 a.m. on Monday.

Firefighters saw black smoke coming out of the middle and north end of the building when they arrived, fire department Deputy Chief Chris Forrester said.

When crews entered the building, they found one of the forklifts had caught fire, he added.

“When we were setting up to enter the building, there were two very loud pops, and my best guess is that those were the tires exploding on the forklift,” Forrester said.

The sprinkler system had turned on and extinguished most of the blaze, according to Forrester.

Any damage inside the building was likely due to smoke or water damage, not flames, he added.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Bennington, NH – Sprinkler system controlled fire at Paper Mill until fire crews arrived

June 8, 2019 viking210

Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at Monadnock Paper Mills in Bennington Thursday morning around 9:45 a.m.

On scene, Monadnock Paper Mills Vice President of Human Resources Bill Peterson said the fire was caused by overheated ball bearings in a fan above one of the paper machines. The fan is above the mill’s machinery and is part of the buildings venting and cooling system.

The building is equipped with a sprinkler system, which was activated until fire crews arrived and were able to get the fire under control.

There were roughly 25 employees in the area where the fire started, Peterson said, who activated the fire protocols before evacuating with the entirety of the rest of the plant.

Peterson said the Monadnock Paper Mill’s 200 employees have multiple fire drills every year, and were able to follow those plans, and account for everyone.

“Folks got out when they were told to get out, and everything worked the way it was supposed to,” Peterson said. “This is why we do this.”

Bennington Deputy Fire Chief Keith Nason said when crews first arrived, they got the initial fire under control quickly, but then discovered the fire had spread into the ceiling, at which point he called for a second alarm.

“With an older building like this, which is very segmented, it can spread very quickly through the vent system, which it started in,” Nason said.

Fire crews remained on scene until noon, checking for fire burning in the ceiling or vents.

Peterson said he didn’t know how much damage had been caused yet, but said he had spoken with Antrim Fire Chief Marshall Gale, a former long-time employee of the plant, who knew the machinery and was assured repairs could likely be done in a few days.

“From that, we’re assuming the damage was minimal,” Peterson said. “We may have smoke damage and a whole lot of water to mop up.”

Peterson said the Paper Mill is not shut down, and that most employees would be able to return to work after the power – shut off during firefighting operations – was returned to the building. Before fire crews left the property maintenance staff had already been allowed to re-enter the building to assess the damage.

“We give our thanks to all the fire departments who showed up. It was a quick response, and very much appreciated by the 200 employees we have here,” Peterson said.

Bennington crews were assisted on the scene by fire crews from Antrim, Peterborough, Hillsborough, Hancock and Greenfield.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Waco, TX – Packaging plant fire held in check by fire sprinkler system; No injuries reported

June 6, 2019 viking210

Waco fire investigators estimate $1,000,000 damage to contents of a packaging plant facility in an early Monday morning fire.

Fire units were dispatched to the Sunoco Packaging plant at 6501 Texas Central Parkway at 1:49 a.m. after someone in the plant pulled a manual alarm.

Occupants of the building were evacuated as the fire was observed in one of the processing machines.

All employees were accounted for and there were no injuries.

The automatic sprinkler system in the plant did operate.

The report indicated the 100,000 square feet of open space and 25-foot ceilings made ventilating the building a challenge.

The initial written fire report indicated the cause of the fire appeared to be a leak in piping carrying solvent to the printing machines with the actual ignition of the solvent being either heat from the operating equipment or a spark from the associated electronics.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

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

May 29, 2019 viking210

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.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Quincy, IL – Compressor fire kept in check by fire sprinklers

May 23, 2019 viking210

QUINCY, IL — Tri Township Fire responded to a fire at Titan International Inc. at 27th and Spruce in Quincy Tuesday night.

Assistant Fire Chief Darren Smith says the compressor caught fire in the compressor room around 6 p.m. and spread into the employee locker room.

Firefighters found heavy smoke on arrival.

Smith said even though the sprinkler system kept the fire in check, extensive repairs are needed.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

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

May 14, 2019 viking210

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.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing