Tuesday, March 8th, 2016
CAPT back in operation after fire
By Claire Giesige
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Firefighters examine the roof of the Celina Aluminum Precision Technology plant. On Monday afternoon, a fire broke out in the ceiling area of a northeastern portion of the plant. All employees were safely evacuated. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
CELINA - Celina Aluminum Precision Technology is back to normal operations after a fire Monday afternoon sent workers home.
The fire started about 1:42 p.m. with the Celina Fire Department arriving on scene shortly after. It was contained to an area about 400 feet from the north side of the building, fire chief Doug Wolters said.
"What happened was, it was going across the ceiling of the plant and hit a wall in the plant where a fan was. It started blowing the flames out of the building, which occurred after we got there," Wolters said. "Everything was in the ceiling of the plant, a pretty good size of the ceiling area."
All employees safely exited the building, Wolters said. CAPT Assistant Vice President Dennis Lee said the plant regularly practices fire drills and evacuation plans. All employees were evacuated from the building and accounted for at their evacuation points within a few minutes, he said.
The sprinkler system was activated by the fire, which kept the blaze "somewhat in check," Wolters said. St. Marys, Mendon and Coldwater fire departments also responded with 27 firefighters on scene. Fire personnel were on site for more than four hours dealing with the fire and later hot spots, he said.
Mercer County Sheriff's deputies also were on scene to shut down Staeger Road between Havemann Road and state Route 703. Cars began arriving about 2:30 p.m., when second shift normally begins.
Wolters said initial damage estimates were about $50,000 but might rise due to possible damage to electrical lines. Lee said the company has yet to determine costs but said because the fire was mainly in the overhead area no equipment was damaged.
"Our first thought was to get everyone out safe and the second was how to get back up and running," he said. "We haven't even gotten to that point of assessing costs."
The last hour or so of first shift and all of second was canceled to begin repairs in the affected area, he said.
"All areas except a small pocket were back up and running around 10:30 p.m. last night," he said. "We had a lot of associates put in a lot of extra hours last night but we got everything running again."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
