Fire damages Red Lion wood shop

All that was left of Bay 9 at Apex Urethane Millwork in Red Lion Tuesday afternoon was a big garage door, freestanding and lacking support from the charred structure behind it.

Almost 40 employees were safely evacuated from the factory at 105 S. Church Lane shortly before 1 p.m. when a dustbin that collects urethane caught fire, Apex Chief Operating Officer Michael Sampere said Tuesday.

The fire, which eventually went to four alarms, destroyed the dust collection area and crawled up the side of the four-story brick building, damaging portions of the factory that faced the dustbin. Sampere said firefighters had to break many windows and there is a lot of cleanup work to do, but the factory will continue to operate.

Sampere said he had not been told what caused the blaze, but he suspected from its location it could have been an electrical fire caused by a motor.

Sampere said a passer-by who saw smoke from the street ran into the building and told him there was a fire.

Fire officials originally evacuated some people who stood outside to watch the fire, saying the smoke could be toxic.

Hazardous materials crews and officials from the York County Office of Emergency Management turned out, and in less than an hour employees and emergency officials were permitted within a stone's throw of the building without oxygen masks.

Although firefighters were able to keep the flames from reaching chemicals at the factory, haz-mat crews monitored the air and water runoff

for contamination, said Joseph Yahnke, deputy chief of Leo Fire Co.

Yahnke said firefighters and a state police fire marshal are still investigating the cause of the fire and waiting for a damage estimate.

Factory workers will be allowed at the plant to clean up Wednesday, but Yahnke said normal production at the factory cannot restart until several repairs are made. Sampere said that could take about a week.

At the scene: As the fire burned Tuesday, quality assurance employee Maria Mantos stood by her car and watched. She said that, in the moments before the fire, she told her supervisor that she smelled something "funny." Seconds later, she saw a different boss running past her.

"He said 'Everyone get out,'" she said.

She grabbed her lunch pail and her car keys, more
prepared than some co-workers who left their keys inside and were stranded.

Little good it did for her to remember, she said, pointing at large fire hoses that were blocking in her car.

Patrick McCall, a custodian at the plant, said he was dealing with trash before the building was evacuated, when he also smelled a strange odor.

"I should have said something, but I had to do my work," he said.

Busy season: The company makes wood work, including trim that is used in new construction.

Sampere said that, despite a slow economy, the factory has recently been very busy because of the start of the building season. The productivity that is lost to cleaning up the fire will hurt, he said.

At least six fire departments from as far away as West York responded to the blaze.

-- Staff writer Brock Parker contrib uted to this report.

-- Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5436 or ckauffman@yorkdis patch.com.