Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

York, PA – Machine fire at metal component manufacturer controlled by sprinkler system

Smoke puffed out of the Gamlet Incorporated building on Tuesday after a machine caught on fire at the business.  York City Assistant Fire Chief Chad Deardorff said the sprinkler system in the building controlled the fire.  Deardorff said the cause of and damage from the fire has not yet been determined.  No inuries were reported.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Montreal, QC, Canada – Sprinklers put out suspicious overnight fire at glass manufacturer

Montreal police are investigating a suspicious fire that happened in Anjou overnight.

Officers discovered the fire after they responded to a burglar alarm shortly after midnight at a glass manufacturer.

Firefighters were called to the scene at Industries Cover Inc., located on Ray Lawson Boulevard, just north of Jarry Street East. 

The fire was quickly put out by the automatic sprinkler system.

The damage was minimal.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Lincoln, ME – Sprinkler system helps save wood mill from extensive damage

A sprinkler system helped save a Main Street wood mill from extensive damage in a nagging fire that took about three hours to contain on Tuesday.

No injuries were reported, firefighters said.

Passers-by reported the fire at about 4:20 p.m. at LMJ Enterprises, 431 Main St., police said. The mill’s screening equipment and some other machinery at the east end of the main building were destroyed, Lincoln fire Capt. Bob Bean said.

The mill, which makes wood shavings for animal bedding, would have taken heavy damage had the flames been carried by the mill’s conveyer belts from the screening equipment into the mill’s attic area, Bean said.

“The fire did not get into the mill,” Bean said Tuesday. “The sprinkler system kicked in, and that bought us enough time to get a handle on it.”

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Spokane, WA – Fire at paper manufacturer put out with help from sprinkler system

What could have turned into a raging inferno was instead a smoldering mess thanks to the sprinkler system installed at Inland Empire Paper.

Fire crews responded to the paper mill on Argonne just after 2:30 p.m. on April 15 for a fire in the recycling building. Employees were unloading giant bundles of recycled materials that were held together with metal bands, said Spokane Valley Fire Department spokeswoman Melanie Rose.

The metal of one of the bands scraped across the floor, got hot and ignited the bundled paper, Rose said. Crews were able to put out the fire quickly with help from the sprinkler system. The quick response was due in part to the department’s pre-incident planning, Rose said. “We already knew what was in there,” she said.

Crews from Spokane County Fire District 8 assisted at the fire and crews from Spokane County Fire District 9 staffed several Valley Fire stations while crews were at the paper mill.  Inland Empire Paper is owned by Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Wapakoneta, OH – Sprinklers assist firefighters in dousing overnight fire at Koneta rubber plant

Operations shut down temporarily at the Koneta rubber plant Tuesday night after a fire forced an evacuation and caused damages.

Wapakoneta Fire Chief Kendall Krites.Second shift workers noticed flames on the ceiling, which is estimated 35 to 40 feet high, above where the presses run in the process of making mud flaps and other rubber products, Krites said. Ignited material dropped onto the floor and caught some of the product on fire, Krites said.  About eight workers had to evacuate the building.

Fire crews arrived and the building’s sprinkler system started to work to put out flames. Krites said dousing the flames created extremely smoky conditions, which created difficult conditions for the firefighters. Krites expected damage assessment and cleanup will take the rest of the week. Mutual aid was provided from Buckland and Uniopolis.  There were no injuries

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Woodstock, ON, Canada – Fire in laser cutter at machining business contained with help from sprinklers

The Woodstock Fire Department said they responded to a structure fire at Harvan Engineering Ltd. Thursday at around 5 p.m.  When they arrived, fire crews found that staff had been evacuated and the sprinkler systems had been activated, allowing firefighters to extinguish the fire.

The cause of the fire was determined to be the result of a spark from the cutting process melting an oxygen supply line, igniting the oxygen supply and spreading to the machine housing. “This is an excellent example of a building’s life-safety systems minimizing the spread of a fire,” said Woodstock fire’s Deputy Fire Chief Jason Whiteley. “A working and properly maintained sprinkler system prevented the fire from leaving the piece of equipment and potentially destroying the facility.”

The Woodstock Fire Department said they would like to remind everyone that all fire and life-safety equipment should be checked monthly and have annual maintenance performed to ensure it will operate when needed.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Old Town, ME – Mill fire doused by sprinkler system; no injuries

Fire crews from four towns battled a fire at the Expera Mill in Old Town today.

Flames broke out in the number-four turbine area just after 10 this morning.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke between the first and second floors.

We’re told oil and debris caught fire.

“We sent two crews in, one to the bottom floor, one to the top floor. We worked our way down to it, and the sprinkler system had gone off and that extinguished most of it. And we just continued with extinguishing the hot spots and making sure that everything was all right. And it was turned back over to mill personnel, probably within a half an hour, 45 minutes,” said Captain Mike HIldreth of Old Town Fire Department.

Hildreth says damage doesn’t appear to be too extensive.

No word on a cause yet.

No one was hurt.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Kansas City, KS – Sprinklers help extinguish oil fire at GM Fairfax plant

A Wednesday night fire at the General Motors Fairfax plant caused an estimated $600,000 in damage, according to the Kansas City, Kan., Fire Department.

Sparks from a welding torch ignited lubricating oil stored inside a paint shop at the plant in the 3200 block of Fairfax Trafficway, according to the fire department.

The building’s sprinkler system doused most of the flames. Firefighters extinguished burning oil on the surface of standing water from the sprinklers.

The fire department reported about $100,000 in damage to the structure and $500,000 in damage to its contents.

No injuries were reported.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Toronto, ON, Canada – Arson fire at cabinet manufacturing business extinguished by sprinkler system

Police are investigating a case of arson in North York after officers say a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of a cabinet manufacturing business Saturday night.

Toronto Fire Services got a call to respond to Modern Custom Cabinets on Chesswood Dr., near Finch Ave. W. and Dufferin St., at about 10:15 p.m. when the sprinkler system was activated at the business.  According to Toronto Fire, a small fire in the front office had been extinguished by the sprinkler system when firefighters arrived on scene.

Firefighters also found evidence of a Molotov cocktail at the site, but reported minor damage to the building.  The store appears to have been closed at the time of the fire, as no one was reported to be inside the building and no one was injured, police confirmed.