Machine shop damaged after RG Steel fire

Machine shop damaged after RG Steel fire

WARREN

The blast furnace at RG Steel, which has been running continuously for several years, is shut down today but most likely only until tonight. No disruption to customers is expected.

The shutdown resulted from an explosion in one of the blast furnace’s four ovens at 1:44 a.m. today. The blast furnace is the last one still operating in the Mahoning Valley.

Eight fire departments responded to the Main Avenue Southwest gate of the Warren Township mill. Several of those departments put water on a machine shop near the oven that caught on fire as a result of the explosion.

The oven itself was not on fire when firefighters arrived, Warren Township Fire Chief Kenneth Schick said, but it took about three hours — until 5:09 a.m. — to bring the machine shop fire under control.

“There was an explosion in the No. 4 stove, sending debris out of the top of the stove, and the hot debris fell on the roof of the machine shop, catching it on fire,” Schick said.

There was extensive damage to the machine shop, including tools and spare parts stored there. No injuries were reported, including RG Steel employees or firefighters.

“That part of the mill is very dangerous because they do a lot of things under pressure,” Schick noted.

Bette Kovach, RG Steel spokesperson, said the ovens heat air that is blasted into the furnace. The explosion did not cause any damage to the furnace, Kovach said.

She said it’s not known how much damage resulted from the explosion and fire.

RG Steel is the former Severstal and WCI Steel mill.

In addition to Warren Township, fire departments from Howland, Lordstown, Warren city, Braceville, Weathersfield, Newton Falls and Champion responded to the fire.