Manufacturing, Manufacturing Plant Greenville, MI – Fire service credits sprinkler system in helping to control fire at plastics plant July 25, 2017 viking210 An industrial fire at West Michigan Compounding’s (WMC) reclamation center Sunday morning was quickly extinguished by firefighters before it could spread to do additional damage. At approximately 9:15 a.m., the Greenville Department of Public Safety was dispatched to the WMC reclamation center, located at 634 Greenville West Dr. at the former Electrolux property, to the report of a structure fire at the building. According to Public Safety Officer Jamie Sorsen, no one was in the building at the time a water flow alarm was triggered. “The alarm went off, and when employees arrived on scene, they found smoke,” he said. Sorsen said he requested assistance from the Belding Fire Department for additional manpower and equipment, and together, the departments sent in teams of two and three firefighters at a time to locate and extinguish the fire within the large industrial building. “We knew that we had a lot of smoke and we knew the area it was coming from, but we didn’t know what was on fire,” he said. “But within minutes they located it.” Sorsen said there were a number of boxes containing plastic that were discovered to be burning about “100 to 200 feet” south of the northeastern corner of the building. “We were able to locate it quickly, which allowed us to put it out quickly,” he said. It becomes a problem when you can’t locate the fire quickly.” The fire was contained within about one hour after the initial time of call. “It did not burn through the roof and it was contained to a 30 by 30-foot area,” Sorsen said. “I credit the sprinkler system that was activated and all of the manpower, everybody responding quickly, both part-paid and full time firefighters from here and Belding, as well as the first responders here assisting us.”
