THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606230098
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 35 lines
A suspicious early-morning fire struck the warehouse of Milcom Systems Corp., a defense contractor, city fire officials said Saturday.
The fire caused ``serious but manageable'' damage to Milcom's warehouse and offices at 532 Viking Drive, said Bill Fleming, Milcom's executive officer.
``The fire is suspicious at this time,'' said Chief Mike Wade of the Virginia Beach Fire Department.
The fire, which was called in at 2:21 a.m. Saturday, caused light to moderate damage to the rear of the building, Wade said. Smoke damaged Milcom's offices in the front of the building, but they are still usable, Wade said.
The fire department had the single alarm blaze under control by 3:30 a.m., Wade said. Five fire engines, two ladder trucks, a salvage truck and an ambulance were called to the scene.
No one was in the warehouse at the time of the fire, though some Milcom employees were at an adjacent manufacturing facility. There were no injuries. Milcom had its computers and phones operating by Saturday afternoon, Fleming said. ``We'll be ready for business Monday,'' he said.
Milcom manufactures, sells and services telecommunications equipment for the U.S. military. It was the region's fourth-largest federal contractor in the 1993 federal fiscal year with $52.1 million in sales, behind only the region's biggest shipyards.
Milcom employs about 280 workers at the Virginia Beach facility, which is also its headquarters.
Fleming declined to speculate on the fire's origins.
Because of the number of employees at the company, fire investigators have a lot of people to interview, Wade said.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB