Struthers fire chief rules blaze at facility accidental

A similar fire occurred at the company about a year ago.
By SARAH POULTON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- The fire at Astro Shapes on Sunday night has been ruled accidental.
Struthers Fire Chief Harold Milligan said the blaze at the facility at 65 Main St. was caused by the falling of a piece of aluminum from the assembly line. The aluminum is hung by hooks, and it fell off as it was entering a 20-foot paint booth, he said.
The aluminum has a different magnetic charge than the flammable paint, and when the two joined, it caused an arc, which ignited the paint fumes, he said.
An arc is the actual discharge of electricity between two objects.
"Anytime you work in production, you'll have problems. ... It's the nature of the beast," Milligan said.
He added that such problems can occur in any type of production company and when it does, the goal is to contain the fire.
Similar fire
A similar situation occurred at Astro Shapes about a year ago, he said. In that fire, the assembly line did not stop moving, causing the fire to travel into the ceiling, he said. In an effort to prevent a recurrence, the company installed a button to stop the assembly line if there was a fire.
This latest fire was caught as soon as possible, and that may have saved a lot of money and repairs, he said.
Astro Shapes has a direct alarm to the fire department connected to their sprinkler system, Milligan said. Although one sprinkler failed, causing one of the 20-foot booths to catch on fire, the damage could have been greater, he added.
Loss is estimated at $200,000, Milligan said.
The company resumed paint production at 6 p.m. Tuesday after being down for two days, he said.
Company officials could not be reached to comment.
Milligan said that during the next several weeks, the fire department will be working closely with Astro Shapes to try to lessen the chances of another fire.
spoulton@vindy.com