MITCHELL – Firefighters from Marion Township and Huron Volunteer Fire Department battled a mulch fire at American Fibertech Corporation on Fleenor Road in Mitchell.
The fire was reported at 4:42 p.m. Monday. The caller reported a front-end loader was on fire on top of a mulch pile.
Upon arrival Engine 52 deployed one attack line and it had to be extended due to the distance to the fire. A second attack line was placed into service due to the fire extending into the mulch pile.
According to Chief Paul Gillespie, Engine 51 and Squad 54 took a position to the East of the mulch pile while heavy equipment from Fibertech pushed some of the mulch that was burning over the side so that hose lines could reach and extinguish the mulch that was burning.
“Today was the anniversary of the fire at Fibertech in 2018. Just thankful that this time we didn’t have the high winds we had 3 years ago. It didn’t spread near as fast and crews were able to get in front of the fire and get it knocked down pretty quickly,” Chief Gillespie added.
Marion Township VFD Responded with seven apparatus and 19 firefighters and Huron VFD responded with two apparatus and four firefighters.
Shawswick Volunteer Fire Department was placed on standby to provide tanker support.
Crews remained on scene until 6:16 p.m. to make sure the fire was extinguished in both the mulch pile and the front-end loader.
The front end loader was a complete loss.
A Seals ambulance crew also responded to the scene.
