1/2/2010
Michael Strand
Employees at the Exide Technologies battery manufacturing plant in Salina were evacuated for more than an hour Saturday night after a fire.
Employees were allowed back into the plant at about 7:30 p.m., around 90 minutes after the fire was reported, “mostly to get them out of the cold,” said Salina Fire Department battalion chief Calvin Kelsey.
The fire started in a central part of the plant called “baghouse 5,” Kelsey said, though he wasn’t sure what exactly had been burning. “The plant was completely evacuated,” Kelsey said, and the fire was fought with a combination of water and foam.
“One thing we had to be concerned about was putting water on the hot lead,” he said.
By 8 p.m., the fire was considered to be under control, and firefighters were opening doors to ventilate the building.
Kelsey said units from Saline County Rural Fire District No. 2 were on the scene assisting.
Exide human resources manager Jayne Cornish, who was on the scene, described the fire as “minor,” and said everyone was evacuated and accounted for, and there were no injuries.

Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.

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