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All 800 employees are back to work at Dalton Foundries today after a fire destroyed a molding line Tuesday evening.
Ken Davidson, president and CEO of Dalton, said today that one molding line is closed down due to fire damage but the other two-thirds of the plant is running. Workers from the closed line were absorbed into other work areas, Davidson said.
The 12 employees taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital Tuesday evening were taken only as a precaution, Davidson said. All 12 were immediately released from the hospital after they were checked for smoke inhalation.
"There are no lingering effects," Davidson said. "It was strictly a precaution." All 12 are reportedly back at work.
"We are running very well," Davidson said. He said the foundry has started repairing the areas damaged by fire and cleaning up resulting debris. Repairs and cleanup are expected to be finished by Monday morning.
Davidson said the 100 firefighters who responded to the fire "did an outstanding job."
One problem that firemen faced was the thick black smoke caused by burning rubber from a conveyor belt. But, Davidson said, "we are delighted and pleased" with the firefighters' work.
Dalton enjoys a fairly close relationship with area fire departments because of the danger of fire in the foundry.
"The business is such that it happens once in a while," Davidson said of fires. "Our policy is to be very familiar with understanding the kinds of fires and ways to put them out."
Davidson credits the local fire crews and EMS units that were at the foundry Tuesday night. "We don't consider ourselves to be firefighters ... we leave that to the professionals."
The fire apparently started when molten iron overflowed and ran into the basement during a production shift earlier Tuesday.
Davidson said employees didn't think the run-off caused a problem, but the molten iron apparently found flammable materials and started to smolder.
The fire was found shortly before 4:20 p.m. by employees on a maintenance shift. Davidson said there weren't as many employees around the area at this time, which, he said, would explain why the fire was unnoticed at first.
"They're usually not that size when we get involved," Davidson said of fires in the foundry. The blaze Tuesday was in an isolated area, he said.
Davidson said he will not have a damage estimate until it is determined exactly what needs to be repaired. But, he said, reports of $300,000 damage were "on the low side."
Dalton is continuing the investigation into the fire.
"We are continuing to investigate and look at our policy and procedure," Davidson said. If another fire should occur in the future, he said, the foundry would like to have a way to find it sooner.
John Jones, deputy commissioner of the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said today that IOSHA has nothing new on the Dalton investigation.
Jones said it would take several weeks for the IOSHA compliance officer to finish the report on the Dalton fire and another alleged safety violation.
The investigator will look at the site, interview employees and then make a report, Jones said.
Dalton faced IOSHA fines after a 1995 explosion that killed three employees. Dalton paid $36,000 in fines for safety violations, and paid more than $22,000 to the families of the three workers.
