Fire marshals to investigate cause of fire that destroyed West Deer metals firm

Fire marshals from Allegheny County and West Deer Township will attempt to determine the cause of a fire Saturday morning that destroyed a metal fabricating and recycling plant.

West Deer Company 3 fire Chief Josh Wiegand said the fire destroyed the TNT Metals plant at 22 Frontier Drive. It was reported at 6:33 a.m.

“The fire was initially reported to police as a burglar alarm. When we got there, there was a lot of smoke and fire in the center of the 150-by-300 foot building,” Wiegand said.

Wiegand said between 50 and 60 firefighters from nine departments battled the blaze. He said they finally got the fire under control about 9:14 a.m.

“It was very difficult because of the materials involved,” he said.

The building housed magnesium and other highly flammable materials, which ignited during the fire.

“Our biggest problem here was the combustible metals inside the building,” he said. “That was difficult to extinguish.”

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,” he said.

A fire hydrant was across the street, but Wiegand said because of the snow and ice, no ground water sources were available.

He said some of the metals, such as magnesium and zirconium, were “very difficult” to extinguish. He said a lot of the plant’s equipment, such as fabricating machinery, fork lifts and trucks, were also destroyed.

The building was a complete loss, Wiegand said.

Company officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wiegand said the plant closed for the Christmas holiday Wednesday afternoon, and no one was in the building.

“We’re not sure what the cause is,” he said. There was no evidence to suggest foul play, he said.

Wiegand said no firefighters were injured.

The company’s website, tntmetals.org says the firm was founded in 2003 and has been “buying and selling metals in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia for over 15 years.”

Julia Felton and Paul Peirce are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@triblive.com or via Twitter @ppeirce_trib. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, jfelton@triblive.com or via Twitter @JuliaFelton16