3 injured in fire at Plum manufacturing facility

Three people were taken to a hospital Saturday after being involved in a fire at a Plum manufacturing facility.

The fire started shortly before noon at Affival Inc., a metallurgy-based manufacturing firm specializing in cored wire products. Workers handling titanium and calcium powder reported a machine “had caught fire or exploded,” said Glenn Kopec, chief of Plum Unity Volunteer Fire Department

“Unfortunately, with this type of stuff, you can’t put any water on it, so we had to call in some special units,” Kopec said, referring to an Allegheny County hazmat unit that responded. “All in all, it actually went well. There wasn’t a lot of fire.

“It sounds like the safety measures that they had in place to keep stuff from spreading worked. We had it contained in about 45 minutes, but that was moving at a very slow and cautious pace.”

About a dozen people were inside the facility when the fire started, Kopec said. Emergency dispatchers informed firefighters before arriving that the fire involved titanium and calcium powder, so crews knew how to approach, Kopec said.

“It reacts very violently with water,” he said.

Kopec said the three workers were taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons.

A county fire marshal will be investigating the cause further, Kopec said.

No one at Affival could be reached for comment.