Repairs from one fire may have led to
another at a Chesterfield plant. For the second time in little over a week,
fire crews spent hours at the Aleris Aluminum Recycling Plant just south of
Willis road near I-95.
Nearly 30 people inside got out safely
Friday morning. A worker called in the fire just before 9:30. A fire in
the production tower prompted an early release for workers.
Aluminum is usually made here but not
Friday. Crews were welding metal and making repairs to damage from last week's
fire. Embers landed on ductwork nearby causing a fire inside the furnace walls.
You can't see the flames from the outside. the only thing crews could do was
wait for the fire to subside. It finally did around lunchtime.
"We just want to let everybody know
that there's no danger right now to anyone in the immediate area," said
Chesterfield Fire and EMS Lieutenant .
Lieutenant says crews put salt on the
roof surrounding the bottom level of the tower to prevent any falling embers
from igniting.
"So that's where our concern is,"
said Lieutenant "The fire that is in the tower could have some embers or
drop from the tower onto the roof to spread the fire. That's what we're trying
to eliminate."
Lieutenant says the company has always been up
to safety code. A spokesperson with Aleris sent a message
reading: "Aleris takes safety seriously. Our Richmond plant is
committed to operating safely and has operated very safely over the history of
the facility unfortunately, as we were conducting repairs to a unit that was
shutdown, the work underway ignited materials in a ventilation duct work. We
are investigating the matter to determine how to prevent the recurrence of this
type of event.
Aleris, which has been in this facility
since 2005, says it's taking measures to prevent this from happening again.
Fire crews say hazardous material from last weeks fire - including aluminum
dust and other byproducts had been removed prior to Friday's fire.
The Chester facility produces aluminum
sheets from recycled material which is turned into products like gutters,
downspouts and aluminum siding according to American Metal Market.
A spokesperson with Aleris says this
particular tower should be back up and running within two to three weeks.
A similar fire was sparked at the plant on
April 24. In that case, chemicals and high heat caused structural
instability of the beams inside. Crews were forced to let the fire burn out on
its own out of concern of a possible explosion or collapse.
Firefighters
fight two-alarm fire at recycling plant
Chesterfield Fire and EMS battled a twoalarm fire at a county
metal recycling plant for several hours last week before extinguishing the
blaze with no injuries to firefighters or plant employees.
Fire crews were dispatched at 4:22 p.m. on April 24 for a fire
alarm activation at the Aleris Rolled Products plant in the 1600 block of
Reymet Road, which is located just east of Interstate 95 in the Bellwood area.
Maintenance personnel advised arriving units that there was a fire
between the fourth and fifth floors of the facility’s furnace tower building.
The tower houses a 16-burner, gas-fed, five-story furnace. The fire was
reported to be located at the top of the furnace.
Puffs of smoke were visible intermittently from ventilation
openings around the top floor of the tower, but no active fire was visible from
the outside.
Prior to evacuating the building, plant personnel observed small
sparks and embers falling from the upper levels of the tower. It was determined
that insulation was burning at the top of the furnace and a second alarm was
activated due to the possibility of an extended operation, according to Lt.
Jason Elmore with Chesterfield Fire and EMS.
After all plant employees evacuated the building, the on-scene
Fire and EMS command identified areas of concern should the tower collapse.
All firefighters and plant employees were ordered to withdraw from
the area to a more protected position in the 1700 block of Reymet Road.
At 6:19 p.m., Engine 17 was dispatched again to the plant because
of a report that the roof was on fire. Two other crews were already on scene
with maintenance personnel. They discovered and extinguished fire in a wooden
structural member around the base of the tower.
Six engine companies, two truck companies, two medic units, three
battalion chiefs and the mobile command center were originally called to the
scene of the fire, Elmore noted.
One engine company remained on scene overnight to assist plant
personnel. Crews from that company opened up the roof area and extinguished all
remaining hot spots the following morning.
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