Fire at West Deer metal recycling company ruled accidental, owner vows to rebuild

The owners of a West Deer metal recycling company plan to continue operations and eventually rebuild after their building was destroyed by a fire Saturday morning.

“The long-term plan’s to rebuild, absolutely,” said Rick Tibensky, who co-owns TNT Metals with his brother, Joe Tibensky. “Temporarily we have to find somewhere to operate out of until our building at Frontier Drive is reconstructed.”

“We’ll be all right,” Tibensky said. “It’s going to be a process, but we’ll get through it.”

The fire was reported shortly after 6:30 a.m. Saturday at the business at 22 Frontier Drive.

Allegheny County Chief Fire Marshal Matthew Brown ruled the fire accidental and said it originated from a discarded battery. No one was injured.

Authorities were alerted to a problem at the business when a burglar alarm went off there. Josh Wiegand, fire chief with West Deer No. 3, said responding firefighters saw a lot of smoke and fire coming from the center of the building when they arrived.

Tibensky said he was notified of the situation by the alarm company.

“I jumped in my truck, my wife and I, and we took off. We don’t live far from where the company’s located,” said Tibensky, who lives about 15 to 20 minutes away in Frazer.

Tibensky said the scene was filled with firemen, fire trucks and flashing lights. Between 50 and 60 firefighters from nine departments battled the blaze, Wiegand said.

“It was chaos,” Tibensky said.

Wiegand said firefighters had difficulties battling the blaze because the building contained magnesium and other highly flammable materials, which ignited during the fire.

TNT Metals recycles non-ferrous metals such as copper, brass, aluminum and nickel alloys.

The cold temperatures also caused issues for firefighters.

Wiegand said it was 8 degrees when firefighters arrived. Temperatures were still below 20 degrees as crews began to depart the scene about noon. They had to ensure equipment didn’t freeze, Wiegand said.

“The cold weather was a factor with water lines freezing. Fortunately, the building was in an industrial area and we were able to give firefighters who were fighting the fire a break every so often and get them warm in a building across the street,” Wiegand told the Tribune-Review Saturday.

The company has one full-time employee and two part-timers in addition to Tibensky and his brother, who are president and CEO respectively.

Tibensky said the building was insured. The company will retain its employees and get back to work as soon as they find a new building where they can set up temporary operations.

“We’re going to find a place. We’re going to start back up,” Tibensky said.