Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Ellensburg, WA – Business owner thankful that sprinklers helped stop fire at wood products company

A sprinkler system and quick response by firefighters helped limit damage from a fire at Wood Products Northwest in Ellensburg on Tuesday night.

It was caused by spontaneous combustion of rags soaked in oil-based paint.

Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue received an alarm call about a sprinkler activation at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday at 409 S. Water St. KVFR Deputy Chief Rich Elliott said the department upgraded the alarm to a full response, and found a fire in a room used for cabinet finishes.

“The sprinkler system activated and was keeping the fire under control,” he said.

No one was in the building at the time.

Robert Hamlin, who owns the business with his wife, said he is thankful the sprinklers and fire alarm activated and for KVFR’s quick response.

When he arrived on scene at about midnight, much of the fire was already out, he said.

The fire was in the back of the business’ finish department, which has a three-hour firewall.

“Everything went the best it could. This could have been a huge disaster,” he said. “Combustibles, once they get going, can overwhelm the sprinkler system.”

Firefighters extinguished the fire and spent a few hours helping with water removal.

Elliott said the fire was determined to be accidental. Hamlin said he is still figuring out the extent of the damages, but said it appeared to mostly be water damage.

He hopes his 18 employees can return to work within the next 48 hours.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Lee’s Summit, MO – Fire in ductwork at semi-conductor facility controlled by sprinkler system

On Saturday, April 30, 2016, at 8:02 p.m., the Lee’s Summit Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire at Diodes/Fabtech, 777 NW Blue Parkway, in the north building of the Summit Technology Campus. An employee called 911 to report a fire on the roof and smoke in their chemical/gas storage room.

When the fire department arrived, a small fire was visible on the roof of the 540,000 square foot, mixed use facility. The building was in the process of being evacuated.   The fire was located on the roof and in the gas scrubber room, on the north side of the building. The gasses are used for the manufacturing of semi-conductors for the electronics industry and the scrubbers process the gasses after they have been used. 

After consulting with facility staff to determine the types of hazardous materials involved, crews made an initial investigation inside of the scrubber room and found a piece of ductwork from a scrubber unit burning in a pipe chase near the deck of the roof. A sprinkler head near the fire had activated and controlled the fire in the chase.

Fire crews finished extinguishing that fire as other crews attacked the fire involving the ductwork on the roof. On the roof, a portion of the ductwork going to an exhaust fan had burned and fallen away leaving burning gasses coming from two scrubber exhaust pipes. Fire crews applied foam and water from the ladder truck to control the fires and protect the exposures around them as the fire department worked with Diodes staff to shut down all of the gasses going into the scrubber.

After the gasses were shut off, both of the fires were extinguished. The fire was under control at 9:37 p.m. Crews monitored the air around area for hazardous materials throughout the incident.

Fire damage was contained to the exhaust duct on the roof and in the pipe chase from the scrubber room to the roof. After the fire was out and air monitoring was complete, all of the buildings tenants were allowed to reoccupy the building.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fond du Lac, WI – Sprinklers keep fire from spreading at Mercury Marine

The sprinkler system installed at Mercury Marine stopped a fire from spreading Wednesday night.

At 11:23 p.m., Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue responded to a report of a fire in the dust collector at Mercury Marine Plant 98. Upon arrival, crews found the sprinkler system activated, limiting the spread of the fire. Some smoke was in the building.

The crews entered the building and contained the fire to the dust collection system. Access to the dust collector was difficult, so putting out the fire was time-consuming, firefighters say.

No injuries were reported.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Riverside, CA – Sprinkler system controls fire in paint booth

Sprinklers successfully doused a commercial paint booth fire, but paint and lacquer contaminated the water, which flowed into a storm drain and created a hazardous materials incident, say Riverside Fire Department officials.

(Blog Editor Note: Sprinkler systems use a small fraction of water compared to fire department hoses.  By controlling the fire as early as possible, sprinkler systems limit the amount of run-off and toxins released into the air)

The blaze was reported at 8:50 am. Monday, April 25, along the 11600 block of Sterling Avenue, just south of Hwy. 91 and across the street from two sets of railroad tracks and a flood control channel.

The trouble started when the tenant used a power saw to cut wood in the paint booth, Battalion Chief Tony Perna said in a written statement. The saw blade hit a screw, sparking the fire.

The heat-activated sprinkler system snuffed the flames. But about 500 gallons of contaminated water ran down a storm drain.

Firefighters diked the storm drain entrance to halt further contamination. And they alerted environmental agencies, sewer and storm drain workers, county flood control authorities, and even federal and state fish and wildlife officers.

The tenant and a worker suffered minor smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Ashwaubenon, WI – Early morning fire at fiberglass manufacturer limited by sprinkler system

No one was inside an Ashwaubenon fiberglass maker when fire broke out early Tuesday morning, according to Ashwaubenon Public Safety.

Firefighters say it appears a some machinery–possibly an air compressor–caught fire in the back of the building, located in the 2900 hundred block of Holmgren Way.

A sprinkler system alerted crews to the fire and prevented the blaze from spreading to the fiberglass material inside the warehouse.

“Actually the contents inside, we had no extension inside to the contents,” said Chief Eric Dunning, Ashwaubenon Public Safety. “If that would’ve caught, we’d still be fighting it right now. The fire stayed with the machinery itself, but with the contents inside there, this could’ve been far worse.”

The building did sustain smoke damage. Crews were entering the business to investigate what caused the equipment to spark a fire.

“Right now, I’m not sure what the estimate cost of the machinery is,” Chief Dunning said. “And then obviously with the heavy smoke, and there’s quite a few of what appears to be fiberglass halls in there, if there were smoke damage to the halls that were inside the facility.”

The chief stressed the importance of having a sprinkler system.

“We’ll take that in the luck category. We’ll take that as a win for us,” Chief Dunning said. “What also helped is we had an active sprinkler system, so the sprinkler system kept things to a minimum, where if the building wasn’t sprinklered it would’ve for sure spread into other contents and we wouldn’t have been alerted until it was coming through the building.”

Holmgren Way and Ramada Way were closed for a brief time near the scene of a fire. The roads reopened after 5 a.m.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Redding, CA – Fire at silk-screening business put out by single sprinkler

An automatic sprinkler system extinguished a fire in a silk-screening business Saturday morning in the 17800 block of Construction Way.  Redding firefighters responded to a water-flow alarm at 10:10 a.m. When crews arrived, they found a single fire sprinkler head already had put out the flames.

The owner left the business at 9:45 p.m. Friday night and forgot to turn off a high-wattage heating lamp that’s used to dry silk-screening products, firefighters said. The lamp started a fire in material on a plastic, roll-away cart. Damage was estimated at less than $5,000.

The sprinkler saved thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment, inventory and the building, firefighters said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Franklin, OH – Fire at manufacturing facility knocked down by sprinklers

Arcs from a welder’s torch caused a small fire at a Franklin company Monday afternoon.

Franklin firefighters were called to Unifirst, 265 Industrial Drive, at 1:36 p.m. for a fire at the large manufacturing facility. The laundry and uniform company is in the midst of a building expansion according to city officials.

Fire Lt. Mike Perry said the a welder was in an area where the expansion and the current building met and dropped arcs between the roof of the two sections onto a maintenance/storage shed that caught fire. Perry said the building’s sprinkler system contained most of the fire, and firefighters put down a small additional amount of water and cleared the building of smoke.

He estimated damages of about $5,000 to the structure and about $10,000 to contents stored in the shed.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Eugene, OR – Fire at Weyerhaeuser lumber products plant contained by sprinkler system

A fire that caused minor damage to a Weyerhaeuser plant Saturday night in west Eugene started accidentally, officials said Monday. Eugene Springfield fire investigators say the blaze at the plant on North Bertelsen Road sparked in a piece of normally operating equipment. The fire was contained by the plant’s sprinkler system and later extinguished by firefighters.

The fire was reported at 10:39 p.m. A number of the plant’s employees were evacuated, but no injuries were reported, fire officials said. A Weyerhaeuser spokesman said Sunday that crews were making repairs but that the fire did not cause long-term damage to the plant, which is expected to reopen in the near future. The plant employs about 170 workers, the company spokesman said.

Lumber products including joists and beams are made at the west Eugene plant

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Athol, MA – Fire at casket factory extinguished by sprinkler system

A fire that broke out at an Athol casket factory Sunday evening is considered suspicious. Athol firefighters received a call around 5:34 p.m. reporting possible smoke and flames at the Cambium Corp. casket factory at 339 Main St.

The department responded with two engines, a ladder truck and a command vehicle, and found a smoky odor on arrival, according to a department press release. Smoke was seen on the first floor, but the fire was found to have been extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system.  MedStar Ambulance assisted with evacuating one person from the neighboring building as a precaution.

Police Lt. Kevin Heath said the fire is being considered suspicious because it started outside the building in a pile of sawdust. Athol police and fire personnel continue to investigate, according to Deputy Fire Chief Jeffrey R. Parker. Orange and Royalston firefighters responded to assist, while Templeton Fire covered the Athol station

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Smithers, BC, Canada – Arson fire at sawmill controlled by sprinkler system

A 49-year-old man is reportedly in police custody, in connection with two fires at the Pacific Inland Resources sawmill in Smithers.  RCMP and the Smithers Fire Department were called to the mill shortly after 10pm last night.

Fire chief Keith Stecko says mill employees activated fire supression systems quickly. “PIR has a sprinkler system in its building so the system quickly detected the fire and was able to control it; when we arrived we put out some spot fires, but the sprinklers largely did the work,” he said.

Stecko says it appears some sort of accelerant was used — and there was considerable damage.  “We’re estimating between $50,000 to perhaps $100,000; we are currently investigating what was used to start the fire, so we’re not sure at this point what it was,” he said.