Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Evansville, IN – Sprinkler system helps to contain fire at industrial building

Firefighters Wednesday responded to a roof fire in part of the former Whirlpool building on U.S. 41 North now used as a warehouse.

Investigator Richard Howard said the alarm came in at 11:30 a.m. and when the first firefighters arrived two minutes later, there was heavy smoke coming from the roof area and some smoke from inside the building. Nobody was hurt in the fire and building sprinklers functioned normally.

The portion of the building where the fire occurred is used by GAF Materials Corporation to store asphalt shingles and other roofing products, Howard said. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

“The reports that we got from the people inside were that they had been smelling smoke for about an hour but they couldn’t locate the source,” Howard said. “They heard a pop and when they looked up it was the sprinkler head kicking off and that’s when they actually saw fire in upper portions of the building in the roof area.”

“They evacuated the building and called us. So, we do know that we have an operating sprinkler system inside. We are assuming right now that it helped suppress the fire, keep it under control until we could mop up,” Howard said. Howard said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

“I know that we had an incident here last week that was electrical in nature. I can tell you that is one thing I will be looking at but we also had a report that there was a crew on the roof up above that was on the roof working. So I have to find out if they were in that area and what they were doing,” Howard said.

Workers were able to go back inside Wednesday afternoon. “The building hasn’t been destroyed or anything,” he said. “There is smoke damage throughout the building and it was even forced into other areas besides their area,” Howard said. However, he said the industrial steel construction of the building made structural damage unlikely.

Whirlpool shut down refrigerator production at the Evansville plant in June 2010. The manufacturer maintained its refrigeration product design center at the site for a few years before announcing it would move that work to its Benton Harbor, Michigan headquarters. The last Whirlpool employees vacated the Evansville site in 2014.

Evansville developer The Kunkel Group acquired the Whirlpool building in 2011, rebranding it as a multi-tenant industrial park known as Park 41.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Armstrong, BC, Canada – Sprinklers help control electrical fire at wood mill

The sprinkler system and an employee with a fire extinguisher quickly dealt with an electrical fire at the Tolko Industries mill in Armstrong this afternoon.

Fire crews responded to what they thought was a structure fire at about 1:25 p.m., Monday, March 30, but it turned out to be an electrical motor fire.

“The sprinkler head tripped and they used an extinguisher on it,” Armstrong Fire Chief Ian Cummings says. “It turned out to be very minor.”

Fire crews brought out their fans to get the smoke out of the affected building.  No one was hurt.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Merrifield, MN – Sprinklers contain fire at metal stamping business to front entry

Five fire departments quickly mobilized Tuesday night to tackle what could have been a commercial structure nightmare, but a sprinkler system did its work. Flames were visible out the front entrance of a two-story vestibule at Clow Stamping. The fire was reported at 9:04 p.m. Tuesday.

Twyla Flaws, Clow Stamping personnel manager, said at least 70 employees were working in the plant at the time and evacuated without incident. The fire call came between shifts as another crew comes in for the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift. Flaws said it’s not unusual for the 10 p.m. crew members to arrive early and she thought one of those early arrivals may have been the one to spot the fire.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Roanoke, VA – Sprinklers activate to help contain chemical drum fire

(Blog Note – Smoke does not cause sprinklers to activate – Only the heat from a substantial fire)  A smoking chemical drum caused a precautionary evacuation at AkzoNobel in Roanoke on Wednesday. The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. in the 2800 block of Roanoke Avenue. Fire officials say when crews arrived smoke was coming from one of the buildings. Investigators say it was coming from a chemical drum.

The sprinkler system went off. Firefighters were able to remove the drum from the building. They were decontaminated by a Hazardous Materials Team. Investigators say the odor coming from the drum isn’t harmful unless you are in close proximity. According to officials, a contractor will be coming to help mitigate the situation. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management was also on the scene and are working with AkzoNobel.

The City of Roanoke sent out a reverse 911 call to 77 nearby homes and businesses to let them know what was going on. Officials hope more people will sign up for the citizen notification service.

Here’s a statement from AkzoNobel:

A drum of materials began smoking at approximately 12:30 pm today inside an auxiliary building at the AkzoNobel plant in Roanoke, Virginia. The smoke activated the fire alarm and sprinkler systems, and triggered a precautionary evacuation of all production workers. The incident was contained to a small building on the site, and there were no injuries or environmental releases.

The incident appears to have been caused when a single drum of material used to make coatings for kitchen cabinetry exceeded the optimum temperature. Three employees were working in this particular building at the time of the incident. The Roanoke Fire Department arrived on the scene a short time later and removed the drum of material from the building.

Production has been suspended, and is expected to resume tomorrow morning. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Rockingham, NC – Cotton mill fire held in check by sprinkler system

The sprinkler system at Wade Manufacturing kept a fire from spreading at the facility Wednesday afternoon. Rockingham Fire Chief Harold Isler said the department responded to the fire after receiving a commercial alarm call around 3:48 p.m. When crews arrived at the cotton fabric mill, smoke was showing from a door on the right side of the building on River Road, he said.

Once inside, firefighters discovered two bales of debris — swept up from the floor of the facility — on fire with open flames and heavy smoke. Isler said the bales “looked just like cotton.” “What kept it in check was the sprinkler system,” Isler said, which kept the fire dampened until fire crews could arrive.

 Using 300 feet of 1 ¾-inch hose, firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames. All damage was confined to the bales and there was no structural damage, nor were there any injuries to factory workers or firemen, according to the chief.

 The cause of the fire is still under investigation. “One of the biggest issues we had was getting the smoke out,” Isler said. In addition to the building’s exhaust fans, firefighters set up fans inside the building to help ventilate the facility. Cordova Fire and Rescue was called for mutual aid to make sure there were enough people on the scene, Isler said. Although some commercial calls turn out to be false alarms, Isler said, “You can’t take any of them lightly.”

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Pasadena, CA – Fire at plastics plant extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries

A small fire broke out at a high-tech plastics company Tuesday evening, prompting a hazardous materials investigation. No one was injured. The building’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire within about 10 minutes.

Around 6:20 p.m., a small explosion at the Materia facility located at 89 N. San Gabriel Blvd. caused the fire, which was contained to a heating device in the building, said Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. The device is used to heat plastic materials, Derderian said. “There was a light odor for a small amount of time but our specialists determined there was no hazard,” she said. Fire officials remained on scene until about 7:50 p.m. to restore the system. Twelve employees were inside the building when the fire started and safely evacuated, Derderian said. Fire officials did not have a damage estimate Tuesday night.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Romeo, MI – Fire at Ford engine plant contained with help from sprinkler system

The Ford Engine Plant in Romeo was evacuated Friday afternoon due to a fire that drew firefighters from seven local departments.  Capt. David Faulker of the Bruce-Romeo Fire Department said firefighters extinguished a blaze that started on machinery and spread to the ventilation system in a section of the plant.  Firefighters used fire hoses to spray water on flames from inside and the plant’s sprinkler system also activated.  There were no injuries. 

The fire was declared under control about 3:45 p.m.  Faulker said he could not speculate on the cause or amount of damage.  “It’s under investigation,” he said.  Ford officials could not be located to comment on whether production was scheduled to resume later in the night.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Lexington, KY – 3 a.m. fire at manufacturing plant knocked down by sprinkler system

Sprinklers stopped a fire from spreading at a plant in Lexington.  The fire started just after 3 a.m. Monday at Interplex Plastics on Brentwood Court.  Firefighters say when they arrived, the fire was already knocked down by the sprinkler system in the plant.

No one was in the plant at the time of the fire.  An arson investigator was called to the scene.  No word yet on a possible cause.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Garden City, MI – Factory fire contained with help from two activated sprinkler heads

Garden City firefighters responded to a fire at about 5:30 a.m. after receiving a call that fire was coming through the roof of a manufacturing plant on Industrial Drive.  As a result of the fire and heat, two sprinkler heads had activated prior to the arrival of the firefighters.

En route, the department learned that all employees had evacuated the building. The firefighters observed steam coming from the roof on the northeast corner and light smoke inside of the building.

“Initially the incident commander, Captain Gary Gallo, was told by bystanders that flames were visible from the roof prior to our arrival,” Garden City Fire Chief Catherine Harman said. “They were met at the front of the building by a supervisor who reported a piece of equipment designed to burn off excess coating from their product was emitting heavy fire. He reported employees tried to extinguish it without success. He then turned off the ventilation units on the roof and to the machine that was on fire.”

Firefighters found the door to the equipment closed. When they opened it, they saw heavy smoke but no flames. Harman said that utility supply to the equipment was turned off and the unit was cooled with a hand line. After cooling it down, the firefighters re-checked and there was no excessive heat. The door to the equipment was closed, and firefighters continued to use the cooling heads inside of the unit, supplied by the water supply lines, to continue cooling the equipment.

The supervisor said that he and another worker noticed the fire and he shut down the power to the unit and attempted to extinguish the fire with extinguishers without success. He then turned off the ventilation system and exited the building. “We have advised the company to immediately contact the fire department anytime there is a fire before attempting to extinguish it,” Harman said. “We’d rather get there sooner than later.”

There were no injuries as a result of the fire and no one suffered any problems due to the extreme cold, Harman said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Franklin, TN – Single sprinkler extinguishes factory fire; No injuries and operations resume quickly

(NO MEDIA – FIRE DEPT REPORTED):
A single fire sprinkler head extinguished a factory fire this morning, protecting the 300,000 square foot facility and more than 150 workers. The fire started around 7:45 a.m. at Lasko, 300 Confederate Dr., which produces box fans each day. Franklin Fire Investigator Josh Sanders said the fire started after a high pressure paint line ruptured near an ignition source.   The fire activated a single fire sprinkler head, which triggered the fire alarm system, prompting evacuation of the plant and shutting down production. Work was able to resume in less than two hours. Sanders estimated the damage at $5,000. No one was injured.