Steel Mills
Fire at Republic Steel Lorain Damages 3 Floors of EAF Building – Injures 5 Workers
Written by Sandy Williams
December 1, 2013
A fire at Republic Steel in Lorain, Ohio injured five people and destroyed three floors within the plant before being contained on Saturday. The victims suffered smoke inhalation, first degree burns and broken bones.
The fire started just before 2:30 pm on Nov. 30 when a spark or heat ignited the oxygen supply of the electric arc furnace causing a blow torch effect, said Lorain Fire Captain Tom Baker. The system’s safety measures stopped the flames from reaching an area nearby where natural gas was stored.
The Lorain Fire Department received an emergency call at 2:20 pm reporting black smoke coming from the EAF building. “We found the new electric arc furnace building was on fire and all the mill personnel were evacuated from the area,” said Baker.
The fire destroyed all the items stored in the first floor concrete bunker as well as generator and computer systems on second and third levels. Fire Captain Baker estimated the loss to be in the millions of dollars.
The Lorain mill just commissioned its new $85 million electric arc furnace on November 26. The furnace has an expected capacity of one million tons of steel for production of bloom and billet cast semi-finished, bar and coil products.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
Trump approves Nippon-U.S. Steel deal, USW cries foul
President Trump has approved the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, according to an executive order signed on Friday, June 13. Both the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker and the Japanese steelmaker cheered the development.
Nippon exec responds after Trump ‘golden share’ comments: Report
A Nippon executive has hit back regarding the deal for USS following President Trump's talk of a "golden share" on Thursday.
Trump says US government to control 51% share in USS
President Trump says the US government will hold a 51% stake in U.S. Steel after the Nippon deal.
ArcelorMittal plans wire-drawing closure in Hamilton, shifts production to Montreal
ArcelorMittal’s (AM) Hamilton location to be shuttered, wire production shifting to Montreal.
USS, Nippon Steel quiet as litigation deadline approaches
There has been little word from U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel, or the White House since President Trump endorsed the companies’ “partnership” on social media and celebrated it at the May 30 rally outside Pittsburgh.