Trail Plumbing fire contained after seven hours
An office and adjoining business were saved in a Friday, April 29 fire that East Holmes Fire Chief Gary Mellor said was sometimes precarious to firefighter safety.The fire, at Trail Plumbing, 4319 County Road 168, Berlin, was reported at approximately 7:15 p.m. and kept fire personnel on scene until the next morning. The warehouse was completely destroyed, along with an unknown quantity of plumbing supplies.The fire is believed to have started when sparks from a nearby outdoor trash fire got inside the warehouse.Mellor said the fire was paged out as three alarms, drawing in units from eight departments. As the fire progressed, a page was sent out for more personnel.Because of the heat and exertion, the dirty, black smoke, we went through a lot of guys, Mellor said. We were attacking the fire from numerous points and we needed more and more people.The nature of the combustibles inside, including PVC pipes, numerous fuel tanks and oil, made the fire particularly hazardous, Mellor said. Firefighters started with an interior attack but withdrew after the first tank exploded not far from the team inside, Mellor said. At least two other tanks exploded during the fire. No injuries were reported.The smoke was so thick, so black that we couldnt see, Mellor said. They made an interior attack but it didnt get far. It was a precarious type of fire to be in.The interior was exposed to the aerial unit on East Holmes ladder truck after a portion of the ceiling collapsed, Mellor said.The fire was contained at 2:30 a.m. and a fresh crew stayed overnight to watch for flare-ups. A backhoe was brought in to pull away the sheet metal walls of the warehouse, Mellor said, which had fallen in and left the fire smoldering beneath.Construction work that closed County Road 168 may have delayed personnel were it not for the quick work of crews with Fechko Excavating. The road was closed for work on the County Road 77/U.S. 62 intersection project, and excavations had left a 12-inch drop from the pavement to the dirt below.Fechko constructed dirt ramps to get fire trucks through; the first truck out from East Holmes was rerouted around the construction, Mellor said.A neighboring business, Berlin Gravely, suffered smoke damage. The tractor sales shop is separated from Trail Plumbing by a concrete wall.Mutual aid to East Holmes was provided by Winesburg, Sugarcreek, Fire District One, Mount Eaton, Holmesville, Killbuck and Dundee fire departments.Mellor said firefighter safety remained a concern throughout the seven-hour fight to contain the blaze.The number one goal is make sure everyone goes home, Mellor said. One of those tanks went off pretty close to the guys inside. Everyone is okay and at the end of the day, thats what matters.
