ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 12, 1997 TAG: 9704140060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY THE ROANOKE TIMES
The fire started when residue inside duct work leading out of a tempering oven caught fire.
A late morning industrial chimney fire at the Ingersoll-Rand Co. Rock Drill Division in Roanoke County forced the evacuation of 200 employees Friday.
An Ingersoll-Rand employee fire brigade had already begun fighting the fire when Roanoke County fire crews, and a ladder truck from Roanoke city, arrived on Shadwell Drive Northwest about 10:30. The fire was put out in about 15 minutes, Roanoke County fire battalion chief Steve Poff said.
The fire started when residue inside duct work leading out of a tempering oven, used to heat metal, caught fire. The fire was limited to the chimney, Poff said.
The main facility building, where the fire occurred, sustained no structural damage except for a hole firefighters cut in the roof to make sure the fire had not spread. There was some damage to the oven and duct work, Poff said.
Dick Soltis, Ingersoll-Rand manufacturing operations manager, said the damage was estimated to be about $15,000.
Ingersoll-Rand's employees evacuated the building for about an hour as a precaution, Soltis said.
No one was injured in the fire.
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