Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Garden City, MI – Factory fire contained with help from two activated sprinkler heads March 7, 2015 viking210 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.
