May 6—Fire crews from five Berks and Montgomery County departments rushed to Bally Block Co. on Thursday morning for a fire that started from a sparking industrial wood grinder.
Crews from Eastern Berks Fire Department arrived first at 30 S. Seventh St., Bally, at 8:14 a.m.
The fire was under control around 45 minutes after crews arrived, said Mike Mutter, Eastern Berks chief.
The fire caused no structural or machine damage and only burned sawdust filtration bags, which contained the flames as part of the facility's automatic fire response, Mutter said.
"It's a typical problem there when they get a nail or bullet in a piece of wood, it sets a spark off or starts a fire," Mutter said.
When that occurs, the facility's automated vacuum system kicks in and sucks the flames through a filtration system with sprinklers that puts the fire out, according to Mutter.
"(The fire suppression system) did exactly what it's supposed to, it just leaves a mess to clean up afterwards," Mutter said.
Between 75 and 100 employees were safely evacuated for about an hour while fire crews ran a hose to the wood grinder in the basement where the fire started and checked affected areas for hot spots.
A damage estimate was not available Thursday evening.