OHIO Chemical limits action on blaze
The magnesium fire at a plant also destroyed a neighboring company.
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) -- Because water makes the flames worse, the only strategy for fighting a magnesium fire at a metals recycling plant was to let it burn out, the fire chief said.
The fire Monday at Garfield Alloys in an industrial park about 10 miles southeast of Cleveland destroyed two of the company's three buildings and a neighboring heating company, Fire Chief Tony Collova said.
White sparks from explosions continued late into the night as the flames lit plumes of thick, gray smoke from below. Magnesium explodes when it touches water, and rain hampered firefighting efforts. Sand is often used to extinguish smaller magnesium fires.
"It is one of the most difficult things to deal with," Collova said.
The fire could keep burning into this evening, he said. No homes on hills surrounding the industrial valley were threatened, but two blasts shattered windows at an apartment complex 2,000 feet away, prompting evacuations.
People with packed overnight bags held rags over their mouths as they left apartments and homes.
Containing the flames
Firefighters sprayed water around the perimeter of the flames and managed to keep them from spreading to other businesses, high-tension power lines and railroad tracks, Collova said.
Two firefighters were taken to a hospital with rapid heartbeats and were released after treatment. Employees escaped safely, Collova said.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the local sewer district were sampling air and water, spokeswoman Kara Allison said. The federal EPA also was sending a team to sample air. There was no boil alert for public water systems, she said.
"Look at that; it looks like the Fourth of July," said Daryl Streety, 40, one of the hundreds of residents who watched from a hillside overlooking the plant before the evacuation.
"It's a little frightening, a little intimidating," said Mike Tycast, 44.
Children on the hillside took pictures of one another standing in front of oven-hot orange flames and smoke.
Tiny white particles of magnesium kept floating to the ground, sticking like dandruff to spectators' coats, and an acrid smell more intense than a fireworks show hung in the air.
Crescent Heat Treat Co. next to the plant was destroyed, said 20-year employee Ed Girolamo.
"There was no way to keep it away," Girolamo said. "I'll probably have to go on unemployment."
Previous blaze
Some spectators questioned why there weren't more precautions in place after a 2001 fire at the plant, when a 55-gallon drum of magnesium caught fire. Firefighters were able to contain that blaze with sand, and there were no major injuries. Collova said he knew of no fines against the company for that fire.
In its metal form, magnesium is often used with aluminum to make beverage cans. It also is used to make parts for automobiles and machines. Magnesium compound is used to line furnaces used to produce steel.
According to Hoovers Online, a Web site that tracks businesses, Garfield Alloys employs 76 to 100 people.