Officials continue to investigate the cause of the late night Jan. 27 fire which destroyed the millwright/maintenance shop and several supply bins at DH Manufacturing on Hols Road in Houston.
“The exact cause is not determined and may not be able to due to the extent of the damage in the [block] supply bins,” says Houston Fire Department chief Jim Daigneault.
“All we know at this point, is that the fire started near the head end of a conveyor in an outside walking floor,” added DH owner Denise Hotte.
Four department trucks and 16 department members responded to the call which was received at 10:15 p.m. that night.
Crews arrived to find the millwright shop fully engulfed along with the two bins that supply the main mill building.
They concentrated their efforts on protecting the main structure so the fire would not get into the main building.
“The first challenge was to make sure the fire did not get into the main building and then we had to manage the water supply as we were drawing from the fire storage lagoon,” said Daigneault.
Crews spent six and a half hours at the location, he said.
Employees were able to return to work the morning after the fire.
As to the effect on the business, Hotte said the blockline and chopline operations were not affected and that there was no missed production time.
“The finger joint operation was up to full production on Wednesday, Jan 29. The rebuilding of our maintenance shop will commence as soon as possible,” said Hotte.
She extended her gratitude to the Houston Fire Department for the efficient effort in keeping the fire out of the main production building and to entire community.
