Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Holyoke, MA – Fire in paint booth of container plant controlled with help from sprinkler system

No injuries were reported early Thursday after a fire started in a paint booth inside a factory on North Bridge Street and spread to the roof.  The blaze at International Container Co., 110 North Bridge St., was reported shortly after 4 a.m., Fire Capt. Kevin Cavagnac said.

The fire spread from the paint booth to the roof via a vent pipe. It was quickly extinguished from inside the building and the firefighters cut open the roof around the vent pipe with power saws to check for and prevent further extension, Cavagnac said.

The spray booth has a sprinkler system which activated and set off the alarm system.  The cause of the fire is under investigation. The factory was in operation when it broke out.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Palm City, FL – Fire put out in less than 20 minutes thanks to sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Martin County Fire Rescue officials extinguished a fire at a business on Southwest 42nd Avenue, a fire rescue official said Tuesday.

Crews were called to a fire alarm at 8:10 p.m. Monday at the business in the 3300 block of Southwest 42nd Avenue, Division Chief Daniel Wouters said. The location is west of Florida’s Turnpike and north of Southwest Martin Highway.

The business was identified as PAC Seating Systems. It was closed Tuesday but will be open Wednesday, said Alyssa Eidson, HR account assistant at the business.

Wouters said an overhead sprinkler system held the fire in check, and firefighters finished putting it out. The fire was out in less than 20 minutes, he said.

The amount of damage was not immediately available.

The fire, which is being investigated by the state fire marshal, caused no injuries, Wouters said.

Food Processing, Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Norcross, GA – Fire at corn mill contained with help from sprinkler system; Exhaust pipe identified as origin of fire

An exhaust pipe in a corn mill and refinery is believed to have caused a fire at the Norcross business Friday afternoon. Firefighters responded at 12:28 p.m. to an automatic fire alarm at Olé Mexican Foods, Inc., which is located on Crescent Drive NW in unincorporated Norcross, after the alarm company told dispatch that multiple manual pull stations had been activated, said Justin Wilson, a spokesman for the Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Several other people called 911 to report a fire on top of the building and smoke coming from the business as well, Wilson said, and on scene, firefighters found the six-story building with heavy smoke coming from the roof.

“Crews quickly deployed a high-rise pack to the fourth floor and connected to the building’s standpipe system,” he said. “The fire pump for the standpipe system was currently operating and the sprinkler system was active. A carbon dioxide extinguishing system also discharged on the fifth floor. Heavy smoke conditions and fire was located on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors.”

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire on all floors before redirecting to the roof, where the blaze was still active. “Before the fire could breach the affected (exhaust) system, copious amounts of water was applied to extinguish the blaze,” Wilson said. “The fire was contained to metal pipe used in a process to dry corn flakes prior to the refinery process. Crews began ventilating the residual smoke from the building using positive pressure fans.” Wilson said about 60 firefighters were on the scene due to the size and complexity of the incident and later determined that the fire originated on the fourth floor from malfunctioning equipment. He added that the corn flakes in the pipe contributed to the spread of flames inside the machinery. No injuries were reported and the fire was under control within two hours of arrival.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Oshkosh, WI – Manufacturing fire ignited by static electricity is contained by sprinkler system

A fire inside the A.P. Nonweiler plant last Monday night that caused an evacuation was ignited by static electricity, the Oshkosh Fire Department said.

The fire department was called to 3321 County Road A. in Oshkosh just after 6 p.m. Monday. The plants sprinkler system was able to contain the fire until the department arrived to extinguish the remaining flames, a statement from the fire department said.

During the fire, water from the sprinkler system got into some titanium dioxide stored inside the building. This white powder substance is a harmless chemical used to whiten toothpaste and paint products.

The Oshkosh Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team and the Department of Natural Resources also responded to the fire to help assist in monitoring the titanium dioxide substance.

Area residents may notice a white residue on the ground and in nearby waterways from the powder in the building, but the fire department said the residue is harmless

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Oxnard, CA – Sprinkler system assist firefighters in knocking down fire at manufacturing plant

A piece of equipment at an Oxnard manufacturing facility caught fire Saturday morning, summoning fire engines and two ladder trucks, officials said. The commercial structure fire was reported around 9:25 a.m. at 1400 Statham Parkway at a Haas Automation Inc. facility, authorities said. The street is in an industrial area off Statham Boulevard on the south side of Oxnard Boulevard. A sanding unit at the site caught fire, said Oxnard Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve McNaughten. A sprinkler system in the building was activated, he said. Employees evacuated the building and called 911, McNaughten said. No injuries were reported. Responding fire personnel found light smoke at the scene and were able to hold the fire to the sanding unit, he said. Six fire engines, two ladder trucks and a battalion chief, all from the Oxnard department, responded. Crews were able to knock down the fire within 15 minutes and had put it out by 9:55 a.m., McNaughten said. They remained on the scene for a time to recover smoke and remove water from the fire-suppression effort, he said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fort Smith, AR – Sprinkler system helps contain fire at chemical facility; Blaze confined to mixing container

First responders addressed a fire that arose in a chemical environment in west Fort Smith on Friday morning. The fire, which began around 9:15 a.m. Friday, occurred at Ashland Performance Materials, 5106 Wheeler Ave., on Friday. The blaze was confined to a mixing container used to combine chemicals for manufacturing purposes, Sebastian County Deputy Director of Emergency Management Travis Cooper said. ″(From) the effort of what they were trying to do on a daily basis, unfortunately, there was a fire,” Cooper said. Cooper said the operator who was mixing the chemicals left the area “very quickly” and activated the fire alarm and sprinkler system in the facility. Members of Emergency Management and the Fort Smith Fire Department responded to the scene. Cooper said “there were no composites or components left of that chemical” from the fire. Cooper could not give a damage cost estimate for the fire.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Cleburne, TX – Paint booth fire at lighting manufacturer extinguished with help from sprinkler system

Cleburne firefighters responded to an automatic fire alarm with water flow at 12:48 p.m. Thursday in the 1700 block of Hal Avenue to find a large amount of smoke exiting the building at low velocity through large roll up doors. One employee advised that the fire was in the building’s paint booth oven area. The building, about 150 foot by 600 foot, is used to manufacture and paint lighting poles and light components, according to reports. Firefighters used about 300 gallons of water but noted that the building’s sprinkler system extinguished much of the fire.

The fire remained contained to the paint booth area and caused no additional damage other than smoke and heat damage to sheet metal at the oven’s entry, according to reports. A highly flammable powder substance had been allowed to build up and get into the duct work, which resulted in a flash fire caused by heat, firefighters said of the fire’s cause. No employees were injured in the fire.

Manufacturing Plant

Providence, RI – Sprinkler system controls fire that started in mixing vat at mill

No one was hurt and no significant damage occurred when a fire broke out in a mixing vat at a Livingston Street mill building, Chief William Kenyon said.  The fire at 35 Livingston St. was confined to the mixing vat in a room where soap products were made, Kenyon said, and appeared to have been started by an inadvertent mix of substances.  The building sprinkler system came on immediately, he said, and kept the fire under control. Firefighters arrived shortly after that, since the department’s Branch Avenue station near the North Burial Ground was around the block and down the street from the building.  Firefighters ran two hoses into the building to make sure the fire was doused, he said.  No more information was immediately available.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Watertown, SD – Sprinkler system contains early morning fire at manufacturing facility

Watertown Fire Rescue crews responded to an early morning fire at the Terex-FGI manufacturing plant located at 2813 Piper Avenue on Tuesday morning.  WFR was called to the Terex plant at approximately 5 a.m. Tuesday morning after a fire had been reported inside the building. After all employees safely vacated the building, WFR crews were able to extinguish flames in one of the walls. The sprinkler system had activated and was key to keeping the fire contained to a minimal area.

Smoke and water damage to the building was extensive.  “It wasn’t your typical day for Watertown Fire Rescue,” Assistant Chief Don Rowland said Tuesday morning. “We usually don’t respond to three structure fires in one day.”  Rowland said crews were on scene for about two hours. He said there was a lot of smoke in the building and power was shut off to some parts of the plant. He wasn’t sure when Terex employees would be able to return to work but was hopeful it wouldn’t take too long. According to Rowland, the initial cause of the fire was a furnace in the wall. He did say the investigation into what caused the fire would be started this morning.