Category Archives: Manufacturing

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Sprinkler system activates to help control fire at paper company (Williamsport, MD)

The Maryland Paper Company in Williamsport is recoveringThursday after machinery caught fire late Wednesday night.  According to Deputy Chief State Fire MarshalJason Mowbray, the fire originated in a 2011 JCB Front End Loader, which isused to manipulate and handle paper for the products the company creates. Thefire then spread to the flammable products nearby. There were no injuriesreported, and the only damage the company sustained was the loss of the FrontEnd Loader and the replacement of the sprinkler head system.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Firefighters credit sprinkler system for controlling fire at manufacturing plant (Temple, TX)

Crews responded to a fire Saturday afternoon at the Lock Joint Tube manufacturing plant in Temple. When crews got there they found employees had already evacuated the building. When they went inside, they found one fire sprinkler head flowing water close to machinery which had a small amount of fire underneath. Crews put out the flames and credit the fire sprinkler system with keeping the fire from spreading.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Sprinklers help extinguish overnight fire at Toll Brothers’ plant (Morrisville, PA)

A Morrisville factory escaped serious damage Tuesday morning after a machine malfunction started a fire in a ventilation system that collects sawdust.  The accidental fire occurred shortly after midnight at a Toll Brothers’ construction plant, which makes panels for the builder’s homes.The fire forced the evacuation of the plant, but the business’ sprinkler system started putting out the fire before firefighters arrived and finished the job, Morrisville Fire Marshal Robert Seward said.

Food Processing, Manufacturing

Sprinkler system helps control fire at Cargill Grain Mill (Ogden, UT)

A fire broke out Thursday afternoon at the top of the Cargill Grain Mill near G Avenue and 27th Street. Seven emergency vehicles responded to the scene at about 4:20 p.m. after smoke was initially seen near the top of the structure. A fire had broken out on the ninth floor, a flour processing area, the Ogden Fire Department reported. All employees were evacuated from the mill with no injuries. A sprinkler system was activated as crews from the Ogden and Roy fire departments worked on the blaze. The cause of the fire is still being determined by investigators.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Fire at Archer Daniels Midland plant contained by sprinkler system (Peoria, IL)

Peoria firefighters and police were dispatched shortly after noon to the sprawling ethanol distillery on Edmund Street near the MacArthur Highway Bridge. The blaze began in an area near a grain silo where a worker had been welding, according to police and company officials. The cause of the blaze has not been officially determined.

ADM spokeswoman Jackie Anderson said the fire started about 11:30 a.m. in the facility’s corn processing area and was contained by the sprinkler system, but firefighters were called for additional assistance. “There were no injuries, and the plant is continuing to run as planned,” Anderson said.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Fire kept in check by sprinkler system at Northrop Grumman facility (Rolling Meadows, IL)

“We responded to a call that came in around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday reporting an electrical explosion,” Rolling Meadows Fire Chief Scott Franzgrote said Tuesday night. “When we arrived we found an electrical panel accident and an arc fire …”

Franzgrote said the fire suppression system and sprinklers helped to fully contain the fire in a large mechanical room where the explosion occurred. “The good design of the building and the suppression did its job well in containing the fire,” Franzgrote said. “The masonry of the room and the sprinklers prevented it from being a bigger incident.

Manufacturing, Other - Manufacturing

Early morning fire at hydraulic press business extinguished by sprinkler system (Ogden, UT)

A sprinkler system is given credit for putting out a fire at a business early Saturday morning.  The fire was in a hydraulic press at a business. The sprinkler system extinguished the fire rapidly.  The sprinkler system in this fire worked exactly how it was designed and played a large roll in extinguishing the fire and confining it to a small area.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Sprinkler system saves manufacturing plant from sustaining major damage (Thomasville, NC)

A sprinkler system saved a manufacturing plant from sustaining major damage, said Robbie Binkley, battalion chief for the Thomasville Fire Department.  Rocky Watts, division chief of code enforcement/fire marshal for the TFD, said the plant housed 100 gallons of sulfuric acid mixed with water in a chemical open system. He explained the fire was around the system. Watts said it appears the fire was a result of a shortage in the electrical wiring in the heating element of a chemical holding tank.  There was no structural damage and minimal smoke damage, the battalion chief reported. 

A fire destroyed the same business 10 years ago, at which time it did not have a sprinkler system, he said.  The sprinkler system “kept the fire in check and saved the building,” Binkley said. Watts said the company cleans racing parts and places a coating on them.

Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant

Damage minimized at manufacturing facility (Denison, TX)

A manufacturing facility fire on Tuesday morning is being investigated as suspicious. When fire crews responded to the fire at approximately 5 a.m., they found that the door to the building was open and smoke was pouring out of the facility. The building’s fire sprinkler had been activated when they arrived as well.