SALINE COUNTY —Officials are working to determine the cause of a 3-alarm fire at a battery manufacturing plant in Salina.
Just after 4p.m. Wednesday, Salina Fire, Rural Fire District One and Two, the Saline County Sheriff's Office, Salina Police Department, Saline County Emergency Management and the Kansas Highway Patrol all responded to a fire at Stryten Energy in Salina.
According to Salina Fire Marshal Joe Kvacik, nearly a dozen fire apparatuses remain on the scene attacking hot spots inside the Stryten Energy building, 413 East Berg Road, Salina.
On the second and third floors of the large, multiple story Stryten Energy complex, Salina and Saline County Rural fire fighters encountered moderate fire conditions.
"Eventually we got the fire knocked down on the inside. Then we had some roofing material and stuff on the on the roof that was burning," Kvacik said. "We had multiple levels of this building that had fire on it. So we had several ladder trucks out here."
According to Michelle Weis, Saline County Emergency Management Director, fire crews have informed her that there were no live flames as of 6:11 p.m. Kvacik said fire crews continue to overhaul the building checking for hot spots.
"We have a lot of hot spots in there," Kvacik said. "They're pulling a lot of insulation and and just chasing down anything that's still smoldering."
On Wednesday Aug. 28, Saline County residents near the Stryten Energy Building saw large black plumes of smoke rise from the large factory building located at 413 East Berg Road. Nate King
According to Kvacik, this was a three alarm fire.
"Our first alarm is basically the crews that are on duty, the fire trucks that would go to this initial alarm when something's called," Kvacik said. "A second alarm is where we'll call back one of our shifts and they staff, like our backup trucks, or they'll send some guys out here to assist, and then the third alarm is when we call the other shift back. Third alarm is everybody."
Kvacik said the cause of the fire at this time is unknown.
"They [fire fighters] are still chasing hot spots," Kvacik said. "We haven't started the investigation yet. We haven't really sat down and talked to Stryten to see what was going on or what was observed. For us, this is a pretty large scene."
Melissa Floyd, a representative of Stryten Energy, said the company was unable to issue a statement at this time. Salina Post asked if residents should avoid the area because of the possibility of potentially harmful chemicals present in the smoke plumes.
Floyd was unable to provide a comment at this time.
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SALINE COUNTY —Fire crews are on the scene of a fire at Stryten Energy, 413 E Berg Road, Salina.
Just after 4p.m. Saline County paged first responders to the fire. In addition to fire crews, Saline County Emergency Management officials are on the scene.
Stryten is a stored energy solutions firm, according to the company web site. Their products " power everything from forklifts in warehouses and distribution centers to cars, trains and trucks to microgrids and vast telecom networks. In addition to manufacturing high-quality advanced lead, lithium, and vanadium batteries and intelligent chargers."
This is a developing story. Check the Post for more information as it becomes available.