Firefighters Cut Through Roof to Put Out Fire at Pactiv Corporation in St. Charles
(CREDIT: Google Earth screenshot)
St. Charles firefighters had to cut through the roof of the Pactive Corporation to put out a Monday evening fire that threatened to destroy the food-packaging manufacturing plant on Kirk Road.
At 7:29 p.m. Monday (Nov. 21, 216), the St. Charles Fire Department responded to a report of smoke in the building at the Pactiv Corporation, 315 South Kirk Road. Firefighters were on the scene by 7:32 p.m. and found smoke in the main office area.
Roofers had been working during the day and, upon investigation, firefighters found a small fire in the built up section of the roof along the north east corner of the office area.
Firefighters cut away the roof to expose and extinguish the fire. Additional work was done to check for extension, but the fire was contained to the corner where it originated, according to a St. Charles Fire Department news release.
Officials said the cause of the fire is attributed to the roofing operation. Fire loss is estimated at $10,000.
The smoke was discovered by a company supervisor who made the 911 call and evacuated the employees. There were no injuries to employees or firefighters.
Kirk Road was detoured during the incident as firefighters had to establish a water supply utilizing a fire hydrant on the opposite side of the road from the fire building. All Fire Department units cleared the scene by 9:57 p.m..
The St. Charles Fire Department was assisted by the West Chicago, Geneva, Batavia and Elburn fire departments.
Pactive is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of food packaging and foodservice products, supplying packers, processors, supermarkets, restaurants, institutions and foodservice outlets across North America.
Product lines include custom and stock foam, plastic, aluminum, pressed-paperboard, PE coated board, and molded-fiber packaging. Its customers include McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, WalMart, Kroger and Tim Horton’s.
A fire on May 11, 2013, destroyed a 235,000-square-foot Pactiv egg carton and food manufacturing plant in Macon, GA. The plant was rebuilt and reopened a year later after The Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority issued $50 million in industrial revenue bonds to help finance the reconstruction of the facility.
SOURCE: St. Charles Fire Department news release
