Blaze causes extensive damage to steel manufacturer in Ambridge

A Beaver County manufacturing plant was extensively damaged in a Saturday morning fire, while the workers inside were safely evacuated.

The five-alarm fire was reported at about 5 a.m. at Sukup Steel Structures in the 300 block of 14th Street in Ambridge, according to a county 911 dispatcher.

Ambridge Fire Chief Robert Gottschalk said about 10 employees were working in the plant when they spotted the fire and reported it. He said a member of his department suffered minor hand burns while battling the blaze and was treated at a local hospital.

When firefighters arrived, the fire was “pretty much already through the roof and started to travel horizontally,” Gottschalk said. There was heavy fire damage in roughly three-quarters of the steel building and the roof of steel and wood partially collapsed, he said.

“There was a lot of damage inside the building,” he said, noting equipment included rolling mills and forklifts. “A lot of the equipment was destroyed.”

“As a family-owned business, first and foremost we are relieved that no employees were injured in this fire,” said Sukup representative Rachel Geilenfeld. “We will be communicating instructions directly with employees and assessing damage to the property.”

According to the company’s website, it is a subsidiary of Sukup Manufacturing Co. with headquarters in Sheffield, Iowa. It makes steel products including farm and commercial grain bins, material handling equipment and steel buildings.

Ambridge firefighters were assisted by 24 other companies from Beaver and Allegheny counties. Tanker trucks were called in to help provide water at the site.

The crews worked until about 11 a.m. to get the flames knocked down, Gottschalk said.

Local fire officials are investigating the cause of the blaze.