Staff Report
A cleaning unit that caught fire Friday evening at the National Starch chemical plant was not near any explosive materials, a fire battalion chief said.
The fire began around 6:20 p.m. when a scrubber unit about the size of a 55-gallon drum malfunctioned, Salisbury Batallion Chief Currie Butler said.
The unit heats water and turns it into steam to clean an exhaust system, he said. But water stopped going into the unit.
“It heated up and caught the fiberglass on fire,” Butler said.
No one was injured, and Butler said the fire at 485 Cedar Springs Road was contained to the unit.
Firefighters turned off the natural gas, and it took them about 25 minutes to get the blaze under control, he said.
The scrubber unit was in a building where no chemicals are kept, Butler said. He said the Henkel company owns the building.
Butler said the fire caused between $20,000 and $30,000 in damages.
Salisbury, Granite Quarry and Locke fire departments responded.