Huge fire burns Fremont metal plant, prompts chemical concerns
Sep 30, 2014, 1:11 PM | Updated: May 13, 2016, 10:38 pm
(Photo courtesy Todd Bishop)
(Photo courtesy Todd Bishop)
More than 100 firefighters battled a 2-alarm blaze that destroyed a metal finishing processing plant in Fremont Tuesday.
The fire at ASKO Seattle metal finishing in the 400 block of North 35th Street broke out just before 1 p.m., sending flames and huge plumes of black smoke visible for miles.
Workers inside noticed smoke coming from a machine, pulled the fire alarm and attempted to contain it with an extinguisher. The fire continued to grow, and 12 workers evacuated, Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore said.
By the time fire crews arrived, flames had fully engulfed the building. More than 100 fire fighters fought the blaze. It took about an hour to get the fire under control, Moore said.
The building houses two companies, The Asko Group and Acu-Line. Asko provides metal finishing for the aerospace industry, and Acu-Line does metal etching. Both companies produce toxic waste.
Both companies are considered a “large-quantity generator of hazardous waste,” state Department of Ecology spokesman Larry Altose said. That means the company falls under the category of manufacturers that produce 2,200 pounds of hazardous waste a month.
Asko works with acids, base, heavy metals, cyanide, halogenated organics and flammable solvents on the site, Altose said. “We last inspected in May of 2013 and only found a few minor violations,” he said.
Acu-Line operates in the basement of the building, working with ferric chloride. Inspectors found five violations last year, Altose said.
Under city and state supervision, Asko contracted a chemical-containment team, which pumped the water runoff from the effort to put out the fire.
The manufacturing building is a block up from the Ship Canal, which links Lake Washington with the Puget Sound. It’s also used by migrating salmon and other wildlife.
Moore cautioned that anyone who walked through the runoff created by the fire fight should wash their shoes, as the runoff has a similar makeup to household bleach.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
