MANSFIELD, Ohio–Mansfield City Fire Department responded to a structure fire on Saturday at Tube City IMS, located at 1344 Bowman St. No one was injured but the storage building was a total loss
The fire department received a call at 12:03 p.m. and Mansfield’s Engine 6 was first on the scene. Engine 1 arrived and established the supply line to Engine 6 with a large diameter hose laid 1,000 feet to the hydrant. Another engine and a ladder truck also responded. There was heavy fire and smoke in the building when firefighters arrived.
Firefighters assessed the structure, described as a pole barn (wood beams with metal siding). The structure held a heavy duty crane, a waste oil tank, and in the rear was a storage area for 55 gallon drums of oil and hydraulic fluid, as well as larger storage containers up to 600 gallons. There was also a dump truck in the structure that was salvaged as firefighters maintained a stream of water to protect the vehicle.
Some of the oil drums exploded and the contents added to the fire. Firefighters held their distance as they worked, explained Asst. Chief Mark Sieving, who was not on duty Saturday but provided information from the department report.
“We’re not talking about hugely volatile oils,” said Sieving of the danger from the fluids, “Hydraulic oil, motor oil, is not something the sun is going to light—not like gasoline or diesel fuel.”
“Their main strategy was to protect what we call exposures: the dump truck parked on one side, the tanks on the other. That’s where all the bulk of the water goes. The building was lost; you’re not going to put it out. You have limited manpower, so you concentrate on the stuff you can save.”
The structure was a total loss. After the fire was brought under control, heavy machinery at the site was used to knock the walls down. The last fire unit left the scene at 3:46 p.m.
Mansfield Fire Department Investigator Harlan Barrick was at the scene; but at this time his investigation has not been filed so a possible cause or origin of the fire has not yet been reported.
Tube City IMS provides services to support steel production The Mansfield site, located near the Mansfield Works facility of AK Steel, provides scrap metal and recycling services. Tube City Director of Media Relations & Public Affairs James Leonard said the company had no comment about the incident.
