No injuries in Campbell blaze

The vacant Sherman International building caught fire during its disassembly.

Staff Report

CAMPBELL — Five fire departments were called to a blaze at the Sherman International factory on Union Street around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

The vacant building, which had been used to produce industrial materials such as seamless pipe, is located next to the Casey Industrial Park off Casey Drive.

No fire hydrants were within range of the structure, so Campbell called for assistance from Struthers, Youngstown, Coitsville and Poland.

“We weren’t sure how much water was needed,” said Campbell Fire Chief Nick Hrelec.

Poland’s assistance was canceled after the Campbell Fire Department assessed the situation.

The building is being torn down and contains materials covered in old oil, said Hrelec.

While workers were using torches to take apart those materials, a fire was started from flying sparks.

“It was a lot more smoke than fire,” said Hrelec.

The workers have fire extinguishes on site, but with buildings of this nature, there is always the risk of fire, Hrelec said. No one was injured and the fire was extinguished with more than 1,500 gallons of water by 2:30 p.m.