Firefighters battle blaze over two days

Representatives with Kincaid Furniture Plant 1 said it probably will be at least Wednesday before more than 200 people can return to their normal duties.

That's because officials say it will take that long to completely clean out the dust bin that caught fire at the Norwood Street plant shortly after 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

“We called all of our employees Sunday and told them it would be at least Wednesday before we started operating again,” said Tim Solesbee, of Kincaid Furniture. “In our line of business, you have to have the dust collection system working to operate because of all of the machinery.”

Solesbee said a team of employees began cleaning out the bin shortly after noon Monday. That is when personnel with Lenoir Fire Department declared that the fire was extinguished. Solesbee said. He said it will take a few days to get the plant in operation. But, he did say there are a few people working in the office.

“We do have some folks in the office who are answering the phones and handling deliveries from vendors,” Solesbee said. “We still can receive supplies. We just can't operate the equipment in the plant.”

The fire affected the normal working schedule for approximately 225 people.

LFD Lt. Sam Smith, public information officer, said crews found smoke rising from the top of a dust bin at the plant when they arrived Sunday morning. After following normal safety protocol with maintenance officials at the plant, crews discovered there was a fire inside the bin, which had approximately 35 feet of dust in it.

In order to properly attack the blaze, Smith said crews followed a slow and methodical process. He said they had to wet the dust, remove a little bit of it and then follow that process until all of the dust was removed. Smith said this was essential because if the dust became too dry, it easily could have caused an explosion.

In fact, approximately five hours after arriving, Smith said a dust explosion caused minor injuries to three firefighters. They were treated at the scene and returned to their crew within an hour. Smith explained that the firefighters momentarily were surrounded by a flash of fire. But, their gear and equipment protected the firefighters from serious injury.

“They were checked and evaluated by (Caldwell County Emergency Services) at the scene as a precaution,” Smith said.

In addition to EMS, Red Cross provided provisions to the firefighters, Smith said. He also said it was a three-alarm fire, which means that all off-duty firefighters reported for duty. At the peak of the fire, Smith said there were nearly 40 firefighters at the scene, while the others remained at the station.

Those at the station assisted the volunteers from Gamewell, Hudson, Valmead and North Catawba fire departments who were called in to man the station. Smith said they called in mutual aid to have personnel available to respond to calls while the others focused on the plant's blaze.

“I can't say enough about these other agencies that helped,” Smith said. “It was a great benefit for us, and we thank them.”

Hudson Fire and Rescue remained on standby Monday afternoon to help Lenoir Station 2 with medical calls. Battalion Chief John Jett said the other departments were released, and that members of Lenoir Station 2 were equipped to handle any structure fires Monday afternoon.

Although the fire was considered under control as of approximately 11 p.m. Sunday, Jett said crews remained on the scene in case it flared up. He said they kept finding small spots of fire afterward. He also said the plan was to release crews as soon as Kincaid Furniture employees thought they had cleaned the dust to a safe level.

“We left two crews and a truck on scene at Kincaid Furniture Monday afternoon as a safety precaution,” Jett said. “They were there on standby in case they found patches of fire buried.”

Solesbee said the cause of the fire is unknown, but he does know that it was a spark that traveled through the dust system. He said it could have been from something that fell off the equipment but said it is hard to tell.

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