Category Archives: Manufacturing

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Norwalk, OH – Sprinkler system keeps large bakery fire controlled while fire crews arrive

A fire at New Horizons bakery caused about $55,000-worth of damage on the business.

The Norwalk Fire Department received a call reporting the bakery’s “large fire” at 8:01 a.m. Sunday. Firefighters saw “moderate smoke” coming from the building and its roof once they arrived and found the fire had started in the muffin line machine, a multi-million dollar machine, according to fire chief John Soisson.

According to firefighters’ estimations, New Horizons lost about $25,000 in property damages and another $30,000 in destroyed contents. 

“It looked like some of the muffins had caught fire then … one of the machines caught fire that makes their buns and muffins and then it extended into their exhaust system,” Soisson said. “It was an exhaust fire. Whenever you’re baking, you’re baking at high temperatures. That’s just a risk that comes with their business, I guess.” 

The report said the fire also extended outside the upper ventilation trunk and ignited the roof area assembly as well.

Firefighters used a ladder truck to put out the blaze and then checked to make sure there were no hot spots remaining.

It took the 16 firefighters in their five trucks about two hours to extinguish the fire. It could have been worse, though, the chief said, adding the business’ precautionary measures are what saved it. 

“New Horizons does a good job with their production and the sprinkler system worked as it was designed,” Soisson said. “Only four sprinkler heads came on and controlled the fire until we got there and were able to finish extinguishing the fire.

“My big point for this is that fire codes are important. New Horizons is a company that’s very good to work with and they have very good fire suppression system within there and that was able to keep the fire relatively small and contained until we got there and were able to get it extinguished. That’s why sprinklers in building are so important within the city.”

Soisson said he hopes other businesses will learn from the experience too.

“Nobody likes fire codes because it costs money to do that stuff, but this is the benefit,” he said. “Their system worked really well and damage was pretty minor because of that.”

New Horizons was able to keep production going and was fully operational later on Sunday. 

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Waco, TX – Sprinkler system extinguishes fire at manufacturing plant

Firefighters were battling a fire Monday evening at the Hobbs Bonded Fibers plant at 200 Commerce St. in Waco.

A passing Waco fire crew spotted smoke coming from the plant Monday evening and notified the Waco Fire Department’s dispatcher.

About a half-dozen units were dispatched to the plant, which had been evacuated.

An employee said it appears the plant’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire before the crews arrived, but firefighters later spotted flames.

Just before 7 p.m., firefighters were looking for hot spots concentrated in the ceiling.

The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.

The plant produces a range of products ranging from filters to health care products to industrial apparel to carpet and rug backings to Nomex and Kevlar products, quilt batting, fiberfill and pillow forms.

Firefighters were dealing not only with the fire, but also record-high temperatures.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Massillon, OH – Ventilation system fire at corrugated paper mill extinguished by sprinkler system

Firefighters investigated small fire in the ventilation system at Fibercorr Mills, LLC Friday morning on the city’s northwest side. Firefighters arrived shortly after 6:30 a.m. to the corrugated paper mill at 670 17th St. NW. The fire was extinguished by the company’s sprinkler system prior to their arrival.  Capt. Chris Schweier said the fire was still smouldering and firefighters checked the building for hot spots.  Paper making is a messy process that generates a lot of dust and paper particles, he said. The dust collected in the ventilation system and caught fire after being exposed to heat.  No injuries were reported, Schweier said.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Eugene, OR – Fire in silo at lumber mill is put out by automatic sprinkler system

A sprinkler system put out a fire that started at BJB Milling and Lumber Wednesday night.  Crews were dispatched just before midnight to the mill near Seneca Road and Roosevelt Boulevard in Eugene.  The fire started in a silo on the mill’s property, and fire officials said the sprinkler system prevented what could have been a huge blaze. The cause remains undetermined.  Just two months ago, a fire devoured the 190,000-square-foot Whitsell mill in Saginaw in just half an hour. That blaze caused $10 million in damage.  The Whitsell mill’s sprinkler system was ruled to be inadequate.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Leamington, ON, Canada – Fire at food processing facility limited by sprinkler system

The Leamington Fire Department responded to a call at Top Line Farms, on the 500 block of Essex Road 18 around 6 p.m. Saturday.  Flames were pouring through a large portion of an outside wall when fire crews arrived.  Fire officials say the blaze appears to have been caused by an improperly discarded cigarette.  They have put an initial damage estimate of $2.3 million on the fire, but say damage to product inside the facility is still being assessed.  The Leamington Fire Department credits the facilities sprinkler system with helping to contain the fire.  Topline Farms markets a variety of hothouse specialty produce.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Standard, CA – Fire at sawmill quickly contained by sprinkler system

A heavy amount of fire resources were dispatched to the Sierra Pacific Industries Standard Mill on Camage Avenue at 7:34am Tuesday for a report of a fire.  The first responders found that a chair had caught on fire and it activated a sprinkler system. The fire was quickly contained before firefighters arrived and most all of the resources were immediately released from the incident. No additional information is available.

 

Manufacturing, Power / Energy Facility

Ames, IA – Sprinkler system activated at Resource Recovery plant

The Ames Fire Department responded to a fire on Friday morning at the Resource Recovery refuse derived fuel (RDF) bin, located at the corner of East Third Street and East Avenue.

An Ames electric services employee saw smoke and fire coming from the top of the bin and contacted emergency services. Fire crews arrived and extinguished the fire within the bin. Crews remained onsite on Friday to assist with clean up and to monitor hot spots. No injuries were reported.

While the cause of the fire hadn’t been determined Friday, it was reported by electric service employees that the fire was on top of the bin, meaning there was likely a hot material that was transferred to the RDF bin. Materials are transferred to the bin from items dropped off at Resource Recovery System, such as batteries, car tires, hazardous waste and other chemicals.

Paul Sandoval, Ames Deputy Fire Chief, said it does not appear the fire was caused by a mechanical issue.

Sprinkler systems within the bin were activated when the fire started. According to Ames Electrical Services Director Don Kom, the fire department was contacted for additional water and to completely soak the bin. At this time, known damage includes electrical components within the bin, according to Sandoval. Other possible damage is still being investigated.

“We’re now going back in and checking systems to see what’s working and not working. We are making sure that beyond the electrical system, the equipment — especially the augers — are functioning. It will just take us a little while to work through that process,” Kom said in a news release.

Electric services employees were assessing the damage on Friday.

Other - Manufacturing

Tilbury, ON, Canada – Industrial fire confined to point of origin by sprinkler system, Fire Chief says

Chatham-Kent firefighters tackled an industrial fire Saturday in Tilbury.  Officials say they first got the call shortly before 4pm, on a report of an activated fire alarm at 28 Mill St. W.  When firefighters arrived, they found the building filled with smoke and upgraded the call to a structure fire.  C-K Fire Assistant Chief Philip Thorburn said crews put a hose line into the building and found fire inside a piece of equipment. The fire was soon put out with the building’s sprinkler system confining it to the point of origin. Two C-K Fire companies responded to the incident. No injuries were reported. Damage estimates are at $10,000.

Other - Manufacturing, Recycling / Waste Facility

Fountain Inn, SC – Sprinkler systems keep fire outside plastics business from spreading into structures

Dispatchers said the fire was reported at Ameri-Pak at 477 S. Woods Drive before noon last Tuesday.   The fire burned an area between buildings, but the side of several buildings was singed.

Fire Chief Ronnie Myers said the fire burned mostly outside where the business takes in scrap plastics.  The fire was out within a few hours, but crews were still monitoring hot spots late Tuesday afternoon.  Officials said the sprinkler system went off in both buildings, which helped to contain most of the fire outside.  Several fire departments including Oconee, Pickens, Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg and Laurens assisted, Myers said.

“Once you get plastic burning, it’s very hot. It gets so hot, you can’t put it out with just water. You have to put foam on it to smother the fire. It was a very intense fire,” Fire Chief Ronnie Myers said.  Ameri-Pak is a packaging company. Its website says that the company services manufacturers including 3M, Sealed Air, Tape Logic, Rubbermaid and Ivex.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Evanston, IL – Sprinkler system holds factory fire in check; All workers evacuated safely

Fire struck an optical components factory at 1916 Greenleaf St. in Evanston last Friday afternoon.  The fire was first reported about 2:15 p.m. and Evanston fire crews had managed to bring it under control in less than half an hour.  All the workers in the building managed to get out safely on their own.  The fire apparently broke out in an area close to the roof, above the location of the building’s sprinkler heads.  The 16.000 square foot building houses Sterling Precision Optics which makes optical components and precision machined glass.  Fire crews from other communities including Skokie and Morton Grove were called in as backup for the Evanston crews.

Update 9:10 p.m.: Fire Division Chief Paul Polep says first companies arriving at the scene encountered heavy smoke and moderate fire conditions on the second floor of the building.  Upon making entry into the building fire companies observed an activated sprinkler system keeping the fire in check until crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire.  The business suffered significant smoke and water damage. There were no firefighter injuries. The cause of the fire still remains under investigation.