Fire at Toray Plastics in Front Royal, Virginia, causes 'significant' damage, appears to have been sparked by a mechanical malfunction, but official cause still being determined, investigation under way, fire marshal says
Lorena Madrigal
LOS ANGELES
,
March 5, 2012
(Industry Intelligence)
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A fire on March 3 at the Toray Plastics (America) Inc. plant in Front Royal, Virginia, resulted in “significant” damage, although estimates are still being determined, said a fire marshal, reported The Northern Virginia Daily on March 5.
The official cause of the fire is unknown and now under investigation, but it appears as though it was due to a mechanical malfunction and is not suspicious, said Fire Marshal Gerry Maiatico
No one was injured in the fire and all employees were evacuated. The quick action of the facility’s staff on hand at the time helped contain the blaze, Maiatico said.
Firefighters were called to the plant at about 9:50 p.m. on March 3, and arrived to find that the initial blaze had been extinguished by indoor sprinklers, according to the article, which was carried on nvdaily.com.
However, it took firefighters another hour to put out various hot spots created by the initial blaze, and fire crews remained on the scene for three hours, said Maiatico.
The plant was not operating at the time of the fire, but an undetermined number of maintenance staffers were working inside, he said.
Due to the facility’s trade secrets, Maiatico could not release details such as which pieces of equipment caught fire or where they were located, said Maiatico, adding that the materials involved and location of the fire inside the plant created some unique challenges, the Northern Virginia Daily reported.
Toray Plastics, which is a subsidiary of Japan-based Toray Industries, Inc., has plants in Front Royal and in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The Front Royal plant makes oriented polyester and polypropylene films for the magnetic tape, food packaging, capacitor and industrial markets, according to the company’s website.
The primary source of this article is The Northern Virginia Daily, Strasburg, Virginia, on March 5, 2012.
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