2-alarm fire takes 5 hours to control....

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.

Please comment.