Whitco Plant destroyed in Fire.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Power washer manufacturing plant destroyed in fire

SILOAM SPRINGS, AR – Arkansas' NBC 24/51 reported that the Whitco Incorporated manufacturing plant was destroyed in an early Thursday morning fire, putting nearly 55 employees out of work.

The fire engulfed the entire plant, and took almost 40 firefighters about two hours to get the blaze under control, the article said; investigators plan to begin work soon to determine the cause of the blaze, which caused no injuries.

The company manufactured pressure cleaning equipment, like power washers and steam cleaners for commercial use, the article said.

[Tim McCulla 14]

It is always sad to see people lossing jobs or being out of work. It hits closer to home when it is our industry.

Are they the company that advertised in the Cleaner Times? Did they sell coils?

I hope they get back on their feet soon.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Since I did not get a Cleaner Times yet, I have no idea if they advertised there or not, but they do build burners, so I imagine they sell coils also.

Dave Olsen uses a Whitco burner, so you know it's good.

[R. Williamson 14]

Whitco is one of my suppliers. They got their phones back up today and I talked to them. It is a complete loss. They are trying to find a new building now. They said they should be back up in six months. They are great people with great products.

Robert

[Mike Hughes 18]

Wow......I hope they are insured well.

[Dave Olson 23]

Wow!

This is the first I’ve heard.

Great people and great products I sure hope they will recover and rebuild.

We drove our Red truck (about a 15 hour drive) to their plant 3 years ago. I had them install our new boiler. They are the only company that I could find that uses a modulating fuel valve in their burner system. We have always run variable volumes and other setups just could not handle running 8 gpm one minute and .5 gpm the next!

They (Whitco) took the challenge and the boiler has been doing fine. We have not had to replace any components and no down time at all!

The boiler is on the left side of this picture. 980,000 Btu Lp fired.

Dave Olson

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Janitorial supply building 'too hot' to find fire cause

By Susan Broili : The Herald-Sun

sbroili@heraldsun.com

Feb 9, 2004 : 6:40 pm ET

CARRBORO -- Officials still do not know the cause of the Saturday night fire that heavily damaged Saffelle Inc. at 620 N.C. 54 Bypass.

"We haven't been able to get into the building because it's still too hot," Carrboro Fire Marshal Stan Foushee said Monday.

Hot spots caused by still-smoldering areas have kept Foushee and others from investigating further, but the fire marshal said he hopes things will cool off enough by today so they can get inside the janitorial-supply business.

Foushee said he also did not yet know how much damage the fire did to the business and its contents in dollar terms.

But "it's one of the largest fires I've ever been to," said Foushee, who has been with the Carrboro department for 26 years.

Orange County Fire Marshal Mike Tapp agreed.

"We don't have many fires to compare to a large fire like this," Tapp said.

It took almost 100 firefighters from Carrboro and six other departments several hours to get the fire under control, according to a news release from the Carrboro Fire Department.

The fact that it was a large commercial business of about 20,000 square feet that stored many cleaning supplies contributed to the size of the fire, Tapp said.

The sheer number of items like paper towels and toilet tissue fueled the fire and made it harder to extinguish, Foushee said.

The liquid cleaning products were not flammable per se, but the plastic containers that held the liquids did burn and also contributed to the problem, Foushee said.

Concern that the cleaning liquids, when combined, could cause environmental problems led authorities to call in other agencies to check air and water quality, Foushee said.

Those agencies -- OWASA, the state air-quality control office in Raleigh, and a regional hazmat team stationed at Parkwood Fire Department in Durham -- found no chemical or other environmental hazards to the air and a nearby creek, Foushee said.

It helped that the business was up to code, as far as federal requirements go, for carrying products that are environmentally safe, Foushee said.

As a precaution, owner Milton Saffelle has contacted Shamrock Environmental Corp. to clean up spills from products stored in the business, according to the fire department's news release.

A passing motorist and people at a business in the area saw fire and smoke coming from Saffelle's and called 911. County 911 dispatchers summoned firefighters at 9:26 p.m., according to the fire department's release. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy fire and smoke inside the business.

At the scene, Orange County Emergency Medical Service workers treated two firefighters for minor injuries. One firefighter got something in his eye and the other suffered exhaustion from fighting the fire, Foushee said.

The Carrboro Fire Department received help from the White Cross, New Hope, Orange Grove, Hillsborough, Mebane and Chapel Hill fire departments, according to the release.

The department also got help from Mellott Trucking Co., the N.C. Department of Transportation, Chapel Hill Transit, Orange County Emergency Management, the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the county Fire Marshal's Office, the N.C. Highway Patrol and the Orange County Schools.

The school system sent a truck that ordinarily fuels school buses but on Saturday kept fire engines running so they could pump water, Tapp said.

Who's next?

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Middleboro fire destroys building and three vehicles

By Maureen Call, Enterprise staff writer

MIDDLEBORO — Water from a nearby bog was used to battle a three-alarm fire that destroyed a cleaning equipment business at Tispaquin and Thomas streets early this morning.

"It was a bad fire," Fire Chief Robert Silva said. "These people totally lost their business and the people working for them lost their jobs. It's not a good situation."

When firefighters arrived just after 1 a.m., flames were shooting from the Cape Cod Cleaning System at 119 Tispaquin St. There were no hydrants in the area so firefighters had to use water from a nearby bog to put out the blaze.

"When we arrived at the scene, there was fire in the rear of the building and flames coming from the front window on the second floor," Silva said. "The fire just had too much of a head start for us to get it under control before the building was destroyed."

No one was in the building at the time and no firefighters were injured, Silva said.

Also destroyed were a box truck, van and pick-up truck.

A family member who lives in a nearby house reported the blaze.

On-call firefighter Lionel Healey, the first firefighter to arrive at the scene, said the building was fully engulfed in flames when he got there.

"The whole thing was cranking," he said. "The fire was blowing out both ends."

The state fire marshal's office and the town's fire investigator were at the scene this morning. Silva said the fire began in the rear of the building, but he did not know the cause. He said nothing seemed suspicious.

Silva described the building as a two-story structure similar to a space metal building. The 40-by-80-foot building is located behind some residential buildings, which were not damaged by the fire.

"The metal roof held the heat inside," Silva said. "That made it hard for us to get it under control."

An excavator borrowed from a neighbor was used to move the metal pieces of the building after the fire was put out.

Silva said firefighters battled the blaze for more than two hours and the fire department remained at the scene this morning.

Firefighters from Carver, Bridgewater, Lakeville, Raynham and Wareham were called in to assist.

The business, which Silva said had been in town for more than 50 years, is in a mostly residential area of the town about two miles from downtown.

According to town records, the business is owned by Michael Wehde of 11 Tispaquin St.

The assessor's office listed the value of the 5.2-acre site and building at $348,500.

Wehde said this morning the business, which sells pressure power-washing equipment, had been in his family since 1947. Wehde said the business was insured and said "things will be taken care of."

"Right now I've been up all night and things are in a blur," he said.

Healey said limited personnel and limited water slowed fire-fighting efforts. A water tanker from a nearby town was called to the scene to provide water.

A company employee, Robert Nordahl of Middleboro, described the building as an antique post-and-beam barn that was about 200 years old. He said a metal roof was covered with wooden shingles.

Nordahl was called to the scene to move a box truck and said the back of the truck was visibly covered by smoke.

[R. Williamson 14]

Alkota now owns Whitco