Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Chattanooga, TN – Fire at foam facility controlled by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Chattanooga dispatchers confirm an early morning fire damaged a foam facility in Chattanooga.

This happened at Woodbridge INOAC Technical Products on Judd Road. 

Battalion Chief David Thompson Jr. said that when firefighters with Quint 10 arrived on the scene and confirmed they had a fire at the rear of the building, a second alarm was requested to bring in additional firefighters and equipment.

Chief Thompson said the fire was located in a stack of foam blocks. The building’s sprinkler system activated and helped to contain the spread of the flames. The fire was declared under control in about 45 minutes. No one was hurt.

CFD spokesman Bruce Garner says an estimate on the dollar loss was still being assessed, but most of the commercial business was spared any serious fire damage. The cause of the fire will be ruled accidental.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Knoxville, TN – Sprinkler system extinguished fire at plastics manufacturing plant

Rural Metro Fire responded to a fire at Republic Plastics on South National Drive around 5:30 Sunday evening.

When crews arrived on scene, they found a large smoke charged building and no evacuation in progress.

Rural Fire Metro said after their initial investigation, they found a roll of product that had been on fire but extinguished by the sprinkler system.

Officials said large fans in the building along with fans from the fire department were used to ventilate the building back to safe levels so employees could re-enter the building.

The exact cause of the fire is under investigation by Knox County Fire Investigators.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Hope Hull, AL – Manufacturing plant fire held in check by sprinkler system until crews arrive; No injuries reported

Montgomery Fire/Rescue responded to a fire at the Genpak LLC in Hope Hull Wednesday.

According to Captain J.D. Cupps, crews arrived at the building on Bill Joseph Parkway and entered, reporting visible smoke and a working fire. The sprinkler system held the blaze in check until crews were able to fully extinguish is with hand lines.

Cupps said the fire involved five big rolls of spun plastic stacked 30 feet tall. All occupants in the building were out when crews arrived and there have been no reported injuries.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Hershey, PA – Minor fire at Hershey Kiss factory extinguished by sprinkler system

A small fire broke out at the Pennsylvania chocolate factory that manufactures more than 70 million Hershey’s Kisses a day.  Firefighters were called to the Hershey Co.’s plant in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for a minor fire Friday morning.  A company spokesman said a short-circuit in a storage area heater activated a sprinkler system, which immediately put out the fire.  He said workers were evacuated from a section of the plant out of caution.  He said everyone is fine and no employees were ever at risk.  According to the company’s website, the plant also makes Hershey’s milk chocolate bars and Hershey’s syrup.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Lynchburg, VA – After dust explosion, sprinkler system activates to aid firefighters in extinguishing blaze at business

The Lynchburg Fire Department responded to a fire at a business in Lynchburg after the welding arc set off a dust explosion.  The fire department said workers were doing maintenance on top of an oven at Hanwha Azdel, welding a new rod, when the welding arc set off a dust explosion fire in the roof system in the insulation, activating the sprinkler system.  Lynchburg Department of Emergency Services said the 2000 block of Enterprise Drive was shut down as a response.  Fire crews say Unit 8 arrived and extinguished the flames.  Lingering smoke on the roof was also extinguished.  No one was injured.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Westminster, MD – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in stopping fire at manufacturing plant; No injuries reported

A fire at the FR Conversions building in the 1200 block of Tech Court in Westminster Tuesday afternoon caused damage, but no injuries were reported to civilians or emergency responders.

Responders were alerted for reports of building fire at 12:28 p.m. When units arrived, it appeared that a piece of equipment on the production line was on fire, said Josh Evans, a spokesman for the Westminster volunteer fire company.

“The sprinkler system did activate and extinguish the bulk of the fire,” he said. “It took firefighters about 10 minutes to extinguish the fire the rest of the way.”

Some remained on scene for about 90 additional minutes to ventilate smoke out of the building. The fire and smoke damage is estimated at $150,000, he said.

Crews from Westminster, Pleasant Valley, Reese, New Windsor, Hampstead, Sykesville, Manchester and Glyndon, in Baltimore County, were called.

It did not appear to those on scene that fire damage extended to other businesses in the building, Evans said.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal is investigating.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fergus, ON, Canada – Fire Chief credits sprinkler system in early morning fire at plastics plant

Sprinklers put out a small early morning fire at the AO Smith building on Hill Street West here on Oct. 31.  The fire began in the SM Polymers portion of the building, which is separated from the main AO Smith building by concrete blocks.  Centre Wellington deputy fire chief Jonathan Karn said the department was called at 5:20am but when firefighters arrived the fire was largely extinguished by the sprinkler system.  Karn said two cardboard boxes piled close to the ceiling ignited when a heater was turned on.

“So no damage to the building itself; actually the sprinkler system activated and put the majority of the fire out before we got there, which is good,” Karn said.  “It actually saved that building and most of the product.”

The damage is estimated at $5,000 to $10,000. There were no injuries and all employees had evacuated to the parking lot prior to the arrival of firefighters, Karn said.  The fire department cleared the scene just before 6:20am.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Minot, ND – Equipment fire at food processing company suppressed by sprinkler system

The Minot Fire Department responded to AGT Food <Friday> morning and upon arrival they could see smoke coming from the exhaust duct on the roof.  It was discovered that a piece of food processing equipment had product burning inside of it.  An automatic sprinkler system extinguished most of the fire but some of it expanded to the exhaust ductwork where residual product was burning.  After the fire department cleared the area, there was concerns that burning product transferred into a holding bin.  With the use of a thermal imaging camera, they discovered there was burning product in the bin and AGT employees emptied it.

Other - Manufacturing

Sioux City, IA – Fire at Cargill facility caused by discarded cigarette contained with help from sprinkler system

It was a discarded cigarette that started a fire at Cargill Tuesday evening.  But, that fire never made it inside. However, there is heavy smoke damage to the outside of the building.  This all happened just before six o’clock Tuesday evening. A truck driver noticed smoke and activated the fire alarm.  The sprinklers activated – No one was hurt.

We talked to fire officials who tell us a discarded cigarette in a disposal container started on fire spreading to a nearby bench. But, they say it could’ve much worse.  “A truck driver just leaving the mill out on the South end of the building is the one that discovered the fire. He ran into the building, activated the alarm and notified the staff inside the building,” said Fire Captain Ryan Collins.  The sprinkler system was restored and everything is back in operation. No injuries to Cargill staff, or the 20 firefighters who responded, were reported.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Worton, MD – Sprinkler system credited with helping to control fire after explosion at manufacturing plant

Investigators are pointing to mechanical failure of production machinery as the cause of Saturday’s industrial building fire at Creafill Fibers Corp. The plant in the 10000-block of Worton Road manufactures cellulose fibers, according to Lori Toevs, controller and director of human resources.

One plant employee was injured as a result of a subsequent dust explosion. The employee was thrown back into a pallet of product, Toevs said in a telephone interview Monday.

The employee was transported by ambulance to the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown, where he was treated and released.

Volunteer firefighters from Kent and Queen Anne’s counties, Kent-Queen Anne’s Rescue Squad and Kent EMS responded.

The fire was brought under control in two hours, according to the fire marshal’s report. Crews were on the scene for about three hours.

There were no reported injuries to firefighters or emergency personnel.

Worton Road, which also is state Route 297, was closed to through traffic for a couple of hours.

The alarm sounded at 3:09 p.m. Saturday after an employee observed a small fire inside a production machine.

The employee powered off the machine. Upon opening a filter cover within the machine to investigate further, he was “flown back” as a result of a pressure wave created by a subsequent dust explosion, according to the fire marshal’s preliminary report.

The employee was able to escape the building and call 911.

Proper activation of the sprinkler system and pressure relief vent system is credited with limiting damage to the 75 foot-by-200 foot steel frame building and its contents.

In-house the building is called the “white line,” Toevs said. That’s where product (cellulose fiber) is made out of natural pulp. Toevs said the operation is 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Manufacturing started at the Worton site in 1995. Currently there are 35 employees, Toevs said.

The “white line” was not operating Monday and Tuesday due to cleanup.

Toevs said on Wednesday that the expectation was to start “producing product” by the end of the week.

She estimated the value of damaged equipment to be $20,000, what she guessed it would cost to replace the explosion caps on filters.

“We’re just starting to assess … we’re not sure what we’ve lost,” Toevs said Monday. “We didn’t lose a lot of finished product but we lost raw materials.”

Also to be calculated is the cost of cleanup.

Firefighters returned to Creafill at about 10 p.m. Sunday for a report of fire in the roof. On arrival they found “a smoke haze in the building,” according to a posting on the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company’s Facebook page.

Firefighters pulled open the metal ceiling and doused smoldering embers, according to the Facebook post.

No injuries were reported.

Deputy Chief State Fire Marshal Matt Stevens said his office was not called out to the incident.