TOLEDO, Ohio — After two visits by firefighters on Monday, crews estimate the damage done to the Libbey Glass manufacturing plant on Buckeye St. due to a stubborn roof fire totals $310,000.
Toledo Fire & Rescue crews were first called to the building at 10:30 a.m. Crews arrived to the scene to find smoke coming from the second story roof overtop a glass manufacturing area.
Due to the size of the building, the hazards of the glass product produced and the evacuation of more than 200 employees at the location, more firefighters were called to the scene to battle the fire.
The additional crews stayed on scene until all employees were out of the building and the fire was contained to a specific area of the roof. Attack crews found that the smoke was coming from an area of roofing material near the vents of the blast furnace system used in glass manufacturing.
Fire crews describe fighting the fire as follows:
Areas of the corrugated steel roof were cut away using specialized equipment to gain access to the burning material that was found to be between several layers of the steel roof sheeting. Incident commanders coordinated with Libbey Glass plant managers to avoid the hazards associated with the plant that was built in 1926 including blast furnaces that operate at approximately 2800 degrees Fahrenheit. This was a long and arduous process that kept firefighters on scene for approximately seven hours when the incident was closed out at 5:25 p.m.
Crews were then called back to the building around 7:13 p.m. for light smoke inside the plant near the area of the first incident. Crews found that roofing material and insulation began to smolder near the first area.
Crews repeated the process of cutting through the corrugated steel sheeting to root out the roofing material involved. After a long process, the smoldering material was accessed and extinguished.
One truck crew and one engine crew remained on scene through the night to monitor the roof area. An evaluation of the area of the roof involved will be made Tuesday to determine if the plant can be safely turned back over to Libbey Glass.
No one was injured as a result of the fire.
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