Video: Fire Destroys Plant That Makes Lawnmower Tires

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – In his 30 plus year career, Tupelo Fire Chief Thomas Walker says the blaze at Custom Engineered Wheels was one of the biggest he’s seen.

“We’re just not used to fighting that magnitude of fire,” Chief Walker said.

The 36,000 square foot building was heavily damaged, luckily, all 14 employees working at the time got out safely. The company is one of the largest manufacturers of lawnmower tires in the nation.

There were a lot of factors fueling the blaze. The factory was filled with plastics and other combustible materials.

“It’s a heavy fuel load, probably one of the heaviest fuel loads you’ll see other than fuel or oil,” Walker said.

Also, the plant did not have a sprinkler system. The building was constructed in 2001, before the area was annexed by Tupelo, so building codes did not require sprinklers.

Plant Manager Chris Marinello says firefighters overcame many challenges battling the inferno.

“Primary material in the building is polyethylene and polyprofolene which is a polymer manufactured with oil, doesn’t like to be put out with water,” Marinello said.

Firefighters will be on scene for the next couple of days, making sure hot spots don’t flare up. In the meantime, company officials will be talking with employees and they say they are dedicated to staying in the area.

“We are committed to our workers, especially the workers here now, during our slow season we only keep the best workers, so my employees who are on site, they are the cream of the crop and I certainly don’t want to go rebuild in another city where I have to spend a huge amount of time and money,” Marinello said.

Marinello says CEW leases the building, but the company does own production equipment valued at more than $20,000,000. He is hopeful it can be salvaged.

One firefighter was taken to the ER suffering from dehydration. Once he was released, he was back on scene, helping battle the blaze.