Palatka Fla--Fire at Georgia Pacific Paper Plant

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G-P fire damages ceiling

By Brad Buck
The Palatka Daily News


A fire broke out in the ceiling of a tissue-making machine at Georgia-Pacific's Palatka paper mill Tuesday night, injuring no one but sending numerous firefighters to the scene.
There was no immediate word on the extent of the damage.
Quin Romay, deputy chief of operations for the Putnam County Department of Emergency Services, said the department received a call for the fire in the ceiling about 30 feet over the floor above the No. 5 paper machine about 7:30 p.m.
G-P's fire brigade, a unit of the company's workers who are cross-trained in firefighting, responded first and got help from 12 fire stations and about 40 firefighters, Romay said. A fire truck from Green Cove Springs also responded with a ladder, he said. Firefighters from the city of Palatka , Bostwick, Bardin, Francis, Southwest Putnam, East Palatka, San Mateo, Melrose, Interlachen Lakes Estates, Florahome, Satsuma and Clay County were called to the scene, authorities said.
"It's contained to the (original) area," Romay said at 11 p.m. "They're mopping it up. There's a few hot spots."
G-P spokesman Jeremy Alexander said from the scene about 9 p.m. that the blaze appeared to be under control, but firefighters were still trying to extinguish it. The fire was between two machines, making it hard to get to, Alexander said.
Workers noticed smoke, sprinklers apparently came on and everyone got out, so no one was injured, Alexander said. Romay said that the sprinkler system helped to contain the fire.
"It's contained to the roof," he said. "It's not big - just hard to get to with our equipment."
Then, about 10 p.m., Alexander said firefighters were battling the blaze from above and below the fire, not knowing the source of the fire. No flames were visible, but there was smoke coming from the ceiling, he said. Firefighters sprayed an area about 20 feet by 20 feet, he said.
The rest of the G-P facility was running fine during the fire, Alexander said. G-P officials said they hope to have the machine back up and running by this morning.

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Back to Normal

Things normal again after fire at Georgia-Pacific


The Palatka Daily News

A tissue-making machine at Georgia-Pacific was up and running early Wednesday morning six hours after a fire broke out in a ceiling near it.
G-P spokesman Jeremy Alexander said Wednesday that there was no damage to any "major piece" of equipment and none of the personnel who worked in the area were injured.
"Today was business as usual," Alexander said. "The No. 5 machine came up around 1 a.m., and No. 4 came up shortly thereafter."
Fire officials said Wednesday that they had received a call for a fire in the ceiling about 30 feet above the floor of the No. 5 paper machine at approximately 7:30 p.m. G-P's fire brigade, a unit of the company's workers who are cross-trained in firefighting responded first, and got help from 12 fire stations and 40 firefighters.
Alexander said it was too early to put an exact monetary value on the amount of damages sustained but that most of the blaze was contained to a false ceiling.
"We got great response from the emergency responders," Alexander said. "No Georgia-Pacific employee or emergency responder was injured."
The cause of the blaze was still under investigation Wednesday night. Alexander said fire officials planned to return to the work area to talk with workers on the 3-11 p.m. shift.