Ohio steel plant fire brought under control

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) — Flames and thick smoke shot up in a southwest Ohio community from a steel plant fire that was brought under control without anyone being injured.

Residents near the AK Steel Middletown Works plant complained Monday evening of oily, acrid smells, The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported. The smells dissipated by late Monday night, the newspaper reported.

The fire is believed to have started with lubricating oil in a storage tanker. Fire crews were dispatched at about 8 p.m., and the fire was under control in less than two hours, said Middletown deputy fire chief Brent Dominy.

“There were no injuries and the company does not anticipate any impact to the plant’s operation,” Mike Wallner, spokesman for the West Chester-based company, said in a statement today.

He said the cause of the fire was still being investigated.

The air “was nasty,” resident Mike Slusher said. He lives across the street from the plant.

“You could taste it,” he said. “I wouldn’t let my dog outside.”