January 9, 1963 -- A flash fire of unknown
origin raced through the central portion of the Wizewood Ltd. Aspenite
plant during the early morning hours of January 2nd, causing an
estimated one million dollars in damages. The fire alarm was turned
in by the night watchman at 4:05 a.m. and by the time fire crews
arrived at the scene, the blaze had spread to such an extent that
extinguishing it before much damage was caused, seemed unlikely.
The peerless work of the plant crew and volunteer firemen
prevented the fire from spreading to other areas of the plant.
Destroyed in the fire were the dry wafer storage areas, the
blending, metering and filtering machines and conveyors, the
administration offices and parts rooms as well as miscellaneous equipment
in these areas.
It was learned Monday, that a fire proof filing cabinet
containing many valuable records had escaped serious damage and only the
contents of the top drawer had been damaged.
The fire was believed to have started between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m.
and despite the fierce blaze, was under control within a few hours.
Firemen continued to pour water into the burned out areas throughout the
day to eliminate any danger of fire spreading.
Production supervisor Gordon Lawley, paid tribute to the untiring
efforts of the plant crew and volunteer firemen in containing the blaze.
He said that the million gallon water reservoir on the premises and the
sprinkler system had both contributed to saving the plant.
The work of cleaning up debris started at 8:30
Monday morning, and while no official statement had been made regarding
the commencement of rebuilding, it would appear that there is little
doubt this will be done shortly.
A Board of Directors meeting has been called for January and it
is expected an official announcement will be made at that time.
In the meantime, all employees have been laid off, except those
who have been recalled for clean-up operations.
The three million dollar Wizewood plant went into
commercial production last February and had celebrated the one year
anniversary of their first test run last September 22nd.
During 1962, the firm had progressed steadily
as production problems had been eliminated and sales had increased
and the demand for "Aspenite" had grown. The plant employed over
70 people and had progressed to a two-shift per day production schedule.
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