Firefighters prevent blaze at Adams Twp. business
A large chemical drum overheated at the Lectromat building on Fey Lane in Adams Township on Wednesday, July 2, and threatened to engulf the structure in flames before the efforts of the Adams Area Fire District, and other local fire departments, limited the damage.
The Adams Area and Harmony fire districts were alerted to the scene by an automatic fire alarm at the building shortly after 8:30 p.m., according to social media posts. Once an engine from Adams Area arrived, they noticed smoke in the structure and called for additional assistance, as well as a hazmat unit.
Emergency crews eventually found the source of the smoke — a 55-gallon drum containing an epoxy that was undergoing a chemical reaction. Lectromat manufactures epoxy insulations for the electrical and composite industries, according to the company’s website.
“It was an overheated barrel of a substance that they use,” said Talo Capuzzi, chief of the Adams Area Fire District, who was not present at the scene. “There was smoke from that chemical reaction. When it gets hot, it accelerates the reaction, which creates more heat, which accelerates the reaction more.”
Emergency crews removed the drum from the building and sprayed it down before the contents of the drum could ignite and cause a fire.
“The units there just cooled it and sprayed the material down, which created steam,” Capuzzi said.
Capuzzi said no one was injured or required hospitalization, and there was no physical damage to the building.
“I believe they’re 100% back to capacity today,” Capuzzi said Thursday.
However, he added that the situation may have turned out very differently had the fire departments not arrived on the scene as soon as they did.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Capuzzi said. “Had they not had a fire alarm, it would have accelerated to the point that it did catch fire. Their alarm system did save them from having a catastrophic event.”
The Adams Area Fire District received assistance on the scene from volunteer fire departments in Harmony, Cranberry Township, Evans City, Marshall Township, and Wexford, as well as Cranberry Township EMS and the Adams Township Police.
