Pike County feels the effects of the Westermeyer fire

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By BETH ZUMWALT

At least three Pike County Fire Departments responded to a major fire in Scott County Friday afternoon.

Pittsfield, Griggsville and North Pike all were called to the scene of the Westermeyer Industries plant fire. Several Pike County residents are employed at the plant and many were working when the fire started just before 2 p.m.

Gary Westermeyer, president of the company, says the fire at the Westermeyer plant, south of Bluffs, was devastating, but they are not devastated. The plant burned Friday, Aug. 26, with the first call coming in at approximately 1:50 p.m.

“We plan to build back better and bigger,” Westermeyer said. “The CEO of the company flew in Saturday morning and agreed building back was the only option. We are staying positive and focusing on the future.”

Westermeyer said he was in the plant Friday when the fire alarm sounded and, as usual, emergency protocols were put into place with everyone evacuating the building.

“We employ around 120 people, I’m not sure how many were there Friday, probably around 100,” Westermeyer said. “Once I was outside the building, I could see flames on the north side of the building.”

The state fire marshal’s office has been to the scene, but so far no one is sure what started the blaze that destroyed the 66,000 square foot building.

“We suspect something electrical or a spark,” Westermeyer said.

The fire gained momentum quickly. The building did not have a sprinkler system.

“Our water supply out here was not good enough to support one,” Westermeyer said. “We will have one when we build back, even if we have to build our own water tower.”

Bluffs Fire Department (BFD) responded quickly to the scene.

“You never know what to expect when you get a call like that,” Alex Barnett, fire chief of the BFD, said. “Before it was over we had fire departments from five counties, representing 12 fire departments, two EMS crews, three police departments and the underwater dive team out of Jacksonville for scene lights as we expected to be there after dark.”

Fire crews were on the scene until approximately 9:30 p.m.

“We were so lucky no one got hurt,” Barnett said. “There were a lot of people there and everybody worked together well and nobody got hurt.”

Westermeyer said he hoped to start the process of rebuilding this week.

“We will wait for the insurance to come, but as soon as they are finished, we will start cleaning the spot and starting over,” Westermeyer said. “We don’t want to lose any of our employees during the rebuilding process, so we are keeping them all on the payroll and having them be on call. We are a major employer in the area and we want to take care of our employees.”

Westermeyer said he would not even begin to predict a reopening date, but said everything would be done as quickly as possible.

Two other buildings on the property were not damaged in the blaze according to Westermeyer. Those will continue to operate as normal .

Westermeyer manufactures components for refrigeration and air-conditioning units.

Westermeyer said the portion of the building that houses the smaller vessels the company makes was in the destroyed building, while the larger vessels are made in the two undamaged buildings in the back. Production will go on there.

Westermeyer said he could not be any more appreciative of the neighboring fire departments who answered the call. Many were called just to haul water to the scene, but departments who arrived early were exhausted and needed to have a break.