Chartiers firefighters respond to Allegheny Ludlum plant fires
A sign at ATI’s former Houston Operations
A view of ATI’s former Houston Operations
The call came in about 10 p.m. Tuesday to Chartiers Township firefighters as a transformer fire at the former Allegheny Ludlum plant.
But fire Chief Vince Altieri discovered it was much more when they arrived on the scene at 501 Western Ave. (Route 519) and found fires also inside the secured building. The plant has been idle for about a decade.
“An electrical contractor was doing work to remove electrical parts that the company planned to use at another facility,” Altieri said. “They had the power off. When the workers turned it back on, two ground transformers caught fire. They called Allegheny Power and then they called us.”
Altieri said the department initially responded with a smaller truck. The transformer fire was quickly knocked down after almost burning itself out, the chief added.
But Altieri saw smoke coming from the rear of the building. The problem for firefighters was getting to it. Altieri said he upgraded the call to a structure fire and called the Houston Fire Department for assistance.
“It was locked down,” Altieri said. “There was someone there from Allegheny Ludlum, but he didn’t have a key.”
Firefighters had to force open a gate to gain access to the back of the building. Once there, they had to force open the doors that were secured by padlocks and security bars.
“Two more electrical units inside the building had failed and were burning,” Altieri said. “The units were on fire along with some things on the floor near those units.”
“Once we got into the building, we were able to knock the fire down pretty quickly,” he added. “But there was a lot of smoke. That building is so big, it took awhile to clear it out.”
Altieri said firefighters also had to battle the intense heat and humidity, with firefighters taking breaks and staying hydrated. They were at the scene until almost 1 a.m.