Thu Sep 02 2010
by Tim Troglen
Reporter
Maple Heights " A Dunham Road industrial plant was back up and running this week after a May 30 blaze sent one man to the hospital with minor burns and caused $1 million in damages.
According to Maple Heights Fire Chief James Castelucci, officials believe the fire at Agmet Metals, 5533 Dunham Road, was started around 11:30 a.m. when a spark from a nearby power saw ignited a pile of paper filters containing flammable nickel and copper sulfate.
A 23-year-old male worker, whose name has not been released, was treated at Marymount Hospital for burns and released that afternoon.
Dana Cassidy, chief operating officer for Agmet, said despite the large flames and reports that the smoke that could be seen for miles around, the $1 million in damage mainly occurred to the roof and some outer walls.
The shop, which processes and recycles metal products was never shut down, and normal operations resumed the next day with close to 20 workers using a portion of the building that was untouched by the fire, Cassidy added.
"We had a lot of clean-up from the fire. We worked the weekend on it," he said.
Castelucci said firefighters from 10 departments battled the blaze for 90 minutes before getting it under control.
Firefighters were successful in keeping the flames from spreading very far into an adjacent Agmet warehouse, he said.
The chief said two 55-gallon drums of liquid copper mineral oil inside the building exploded but caused no injuries, and there were no evacuations of the surrounding homes or businesses.
Cassidy said the majority of the smoke was from the building and roofing, which was ignited by the paper filters.
"It was from the building itself, not the materials," he said, noting that officials are working with an insurance company to see what can be salvaged from the warehouse.
Police and fire crews closed Dunham Road during the fire and for a short while after it was extinguished.
E-mail: TTroglen@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3165
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