WEATHERSFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) – Two workers were hurt after a fire at Howmet Aerospace in Weathersfield on Tuesday.
Firefighters say one man was taken to Trumbull Regional Medical Center and the other to an Akron burn center, but both are in stable condition.
According to a statement from the company, the fire broke out shortly after 8 a.m. as a contractor was performing preventative maintenance and system cleaning of a titanium dust collection system.
“Internal responders were on the scene immediately with local fire and emergency teams from Weathersfield, Niles and Lordstown arriving within minutes of dispatch. The fire was extinguished quickly and local plant officials confirmed the equipment’s fire safety system worked as designed to minimize damage and risk.
Initial reports indicate that two contractors suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to Trumbull Memorial for treatment.
The dust collection system affected by the fire is located outside the plant and therefore is expected to have minimal impact to normal manufacturing operations,” said Rob Morrison, communications director.
Weathersfield Fire Capt. Jeffrey Tucker said due to the type of fire, firefighters needed to use foam from the Lordstown and Howland fire departments and salt located on-site to put it out.
“We obviously didn’t have that on our trucks, and then the little bit of salt that we did have there, we had to get more from a different part of the facility, so they had it there. But just getting it to where we needed it at, and then getting the salt down into the hopper would have been the other challenge that we had,” Tucker said.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office has been contacted to determine how the fire started.
