BELLEVUE, OH (WTOL) - A fire at a factory in Bellevue Tuesday morning has finally burned out. The MagReTech factory refines and recycles magnesium. There have been small fires at the factory before, but never like this.
The roads have reopened and residents are free to leave their homes.
The investigation is still ongoing, but early information points to weather as a possible cause. It could have been a lightning strike along with a chemical reaction between the magnesium and the rain water.
County Road 177 was closed for about five hours while crews battled the blaze.
The call came in at 4:48 a.m. Tuesday. Several tractor trailers were on fire, with at least four containing scraps of magnesium waiting to be recycled.
What made the fire complicated was magnesium. Adding water to the fire would just make the magnesium combust.
"You can't put water on this, it just intensifies it," said Chief Brian Putnam of the Bellevue Fire Department.
Fire crews added M130Flux, a dirtlike substance to help smother the fire, but had no choice but to let the fire burn out. The situation should be under control as long as the area remains dry.
Employees at MagReTech helped contain the fire by moving 15 to 20 trailers nearby to a different location.
"Probably could have spread to the whole line of them. It started towards the middle. They were out there really quick," said Putnam.
No injuries were reported. The fire department had asked people in the area to stay in their homes until the smoke and situation was contained.
The cause is still under investigation but fire crews do have a theory.
"Some of the people in the plant seem to think that maybe lightning struck at the time. It's a possibility. We did have some good storms last night. We'll have the state fire marshall do his investigation and if that's what he determines then he'll call that," said Putnam.
Putnam expects this fire to smolder for a few more days. He said it was lucky that the fire did not spread to the factory.
"Any fire to that extent in that plant, there's not a whole lot we can do about it," said Putnam.
Bellevue Schools and businesses nearby closed for the day.
A witness described the fire as huge with smoke and flames that could be seen for miles. He also says he heard explosions. Another caller said the flames were probably about 50 feet to 60 feet in the air.
The factory is directly across from Bellevue Hospital.
