Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

East Liverpool, OH – Sprinkler system puts out fire at century old pottery plant; Business back to usual for 100 employees

Damages are still being assessed following a fire at a century old pottery plant in East Liverpool. The fire was concentrated in a large dryer at the Hall China Company on the city east end. An employee first noticed smoke coming out of the dryers doors around 5:30 p.m. Monday. 

“Then all of a sudden I saw the whole thing caught fire on the side of it,” maintenance worker Jody Eccles said. Another employee, Brian Cronin sounded the alarm.

Then he went through the plant and notified people to get out,” company spokesman Chuck Henderson said. It appears the fire was the result of an equipment malfunction. “The mechanism that creates the heat for the dryer, we had a belt bind up and catch fire,” said Henderson.

The fire was actually put out rather quickly. A large amount of pottery ware ready to go in the dryer was lost due to water damage. But the owner says the 100-year old structure could have sustained much greater damage if not for quick work by firefighters and the well maintained sprinkler system. 

“There’s a lot of wood in parts of the building and it could have gone up in a flash, said President and CEO, Liz McLvain. Hall China is now owned by Homer-Laughlin makers of the popular Fiesta ware 

Clean up work is well underway. McLvain says the plant has several other dryers and they are still in full production. 

“I know you wouldn’t have believed that last night, but today we are in business as usual,” McLivain said. And that’s good news for the plant’s 100 employees. A damage estimate from the fire is still being determined.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Oxford, ME – Sprinklers suppress fire at factory that builds manufactured homes

Oxford’s fire chief said a sprinkler system and quick reaction by firefighters kept a blaze at a manufactured homes factory from spreading significantly Friday night.

Chief Wayne Jones said the fire started in a stack of plywood in a corner of the Keiser Homes plant at 56 Mechanic Falls Road. He said the cause is unknown and the State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the fire.  Jones said the fire spread about 20 feet or so into the building. The sprinkler system kept the flames in check initially, he said, and firefighters were able to get water hoses set up quickly and started to spray down the building within minutes of arriving.

The fire was reported about 4:45 p.m., when most of the workers had finished for the day and only one employee was in the plant, he said. One firefighter was taken to a local hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion, Jones said, and another was treated at the scene for what he said was a minor injury. No one else was hurt, the chief said.

Jones said even though firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading, it still took about five hours to get the fire fully under control. He said an Oxford fire crew was expected to spend most of the night at the site to make sure there weren’t any hot spots remaining that could cause the fire to flare up.

More than a half-dozen nearby towns sent crews to help with the fire or to cover Oxford fire stations during the evening, Jones said. Route 121, which is Mechanic Falls Road in Oxford, was shut down part of Friday evening but had reopened by about 10 p.m.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Union Gap, WA – Fire at paper mill controlled by sprinkler system

Yakima fire crews say a fire at the International Paper company in Union Gap Tuesday morning could have been much worse if it weren’t for their working sprinkler system.

A news release from the fire department said people reported seeing smoke coming from the roof of the building. The fire remained on one part of the plant, a dust collecting hopper, because the automatic sprinkler system kicked on and helped maintain the flames.

Fire crews put out the fire and cleaned up debris from the damage. The cost of the damage is not known at this time. Yakima firefighters say the cause was a hot ember that got into the dust collection hopper.

The news release from the fire department also said the whole building could have been a total loss if they did not have a functioning sprinkler system in place.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

LaVerkin, UT – Sprinklers assist firefighters in weekend fire at manufacturing plant

Agencies from around Southern Utah responded to a structure fire at SKF Manufacturing on Center Street in LaVerkin Saturday.  Firefighters were paged out to the fire at about 1:30 p.m., Hurricane Valley Fire Chief Tom Kuhlmann said.  The building has a sprinkler system in place, which came on during the fire, and firefighters backed up the sprinklers with hoses to control the blaze.

Dawn McDowell, SKF Manufacturing’s operations manager, had been alerted about the fire by an alarm company and arrived at the scene about the same time the firefighters did. She was able to unlock the building, which had been closed down for the weekend, so the firefighters didn’t have to force entry.

When responders got to the building, there was smoke pouring out of the windows, and they had to send a team in to track down the location of the actual fire.  The team ended up finding the fire had originated in the area of one of the processing machines in the back corner of the building, Kuhlmann said.

The responders had the fire controlled by 2:30 p.m. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Kuhlmann said, and the extent of the damage is not yet known as this report is published. There were no people in the building at the time the fire started, so no injuries resulted from the incident.  The fire was contained to the inside of the building.  McDowell said that in the 24 years she has worked at SKF, there have been no other fires there. SKF’s factory in LaVerkin manufactures hydraulic seals, she said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Logan, UT – Fire at electronic parts manufacturer put out with help from sprinkler system

What could have turned out to be a large business fire in Logan, was saved by the quick activation of fire sprinklers.  The fire happened Tuesday at TMM technologies at 710 N 600 W.  At the business they make computer circuit boards. Fire officials say some employees were doing, what they call “hot works” with grinders and torchers.

During the process, a fire was ignited and it spread to the second floor. The fire sprinklers helped put out the fire. Fire officials say by the time they arrived, they were able to put out the rest with fire extinguishers. Everyone was able to go back to work. No one was injured.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Fayetteville, AR – Sprinkler system activates to help control fire at Tyson Food’s facility

The Fayetteville Fire Department responded to a fire inside the building at Tyson Food’s Inc. on S School Avenue.  The fire happened at 3 p.m. inside the Mexican Original plant.  Dispatchers and Firefighters said the sprinkler system was activated.  Firefighters were on scene to help get the smoke out of the building.  The building was briefly evacuated, according to a Tyson spokesperson.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Mesquite, NV – Machinery fire at manufacturing facility extinguished by sprinkler system

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Department Reported ***

E-11, R-11, R-31, Beaver Dam E-11 responded to a manufacturing facility on Turtleback Road for a report of fire signals with water flow alarm. Arrived to no smoke or fire. Employee advises they had a fire in a machine and he believes it has been extinguished by the sprinkler system. Hose lines pulled into structure and remaining smoldering fire put out. Business advised to maintain fire watch until suppression system restored and to have electrician inspect all machinery impacted by water flow. Damage limited to machine with no extension to the structure.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Poplar Bluff, MO – Sprinkler system quickly puts out fire at Briggs and Stratton facility

A fire broke out at Briggs and Stratton in Poplar Bluff Thursday morning around 10:30 a.m. Some welding sparked dust to catch fire near a paint oven, according to the Poplar Bluff Fire Department.

The sprinkler system activated and the fire was quickly put out. Employees were evacuated. Firefighters worked to ventilate the area before letting employees back in to the facility. No one was injured.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Dubuque, IA – Fire in paint booth at manufacturing facility controlled with help from sprinkler system

Firefighters say a fire inside a paint booth at a Dubuque warehouse Tuesday was contained fairly quickly but still caused significant damage.

Dubuque Fire Chief Rick Steines said firefighters received a report at 9:49 a.m. Tuesday at a warehouse at 1111 Purina Drive. He said the blaze originated in a paint booth used by manufacturing company Andersen Eagle and was contained to the machinery.

Steines also said there were two 50-gallon barrels of acetone in the booth that started to burn. No injuries have been reported.

Steines said the booth’s sprinkler system helped contain the fire and firefighters were able to run a hose into the booth to extinguish the blaze. He said it was contained within about 15 minutes but crews stayed on scene to ensure the fire was out and to assess damage and help get the sprinkler system back on line.

Steines said the paint booth’s safety functions worked properly and the damage was contained to the booth.

“There’s no damage estimate yet, but there was pretty significant damage to the paint booth and some water damage from the sprinklers.,” Steines said.

He said the fire was paged out at a two-alarm level at first. But since it was contained quickly, the additional crews were back in service a short time later.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Eau Claire, WI – Firefighters say sprinklers helped reduce damage in uniform company fire

Firefighters are crediting sprinklers for reducing the amount of damage caused by an overnight fire at an Eau Claire uniform company.

When crews arrived to the 3600 block of White Avenue early Tuesday morning, smoke was pouring from the large commercial building.

They responded to Huebsch Linen Services just after 2:00 a.m. The business is off Melby Street, near the airport.

According to the fire department, uniforms and rags were burning inside. Firefighters say the sprinkler system kept the fire small. They’re estimating damage at $20,000.

Huebsch makes work uniforms, floor matting and facility supplies.