Explosions at warehouse third recent blast in region

CLEVELAND — More than 50 Cleveland firefighters responded Wednesday morning to a large blaze with multiple explosions in a warehouse in the city’s Clark-fulton neighborhood.

Crews were dispatched to a fire at the AJ Rose Manufacturing Co. at 9:05 a.m., Lt. Mike Norman said.

As firefighters finished extinguishing the flames at 10 a.m., smoke continued to billow out of the shattered windows. In a statement, the company said: “We are very grateful that no one was hurt in this incident. The safety of everyone in our facility is always a top priority.”

“We don’t know exactly what started the fire, but there were several explosions as we responded,” Norman said.

The company said fire caused some nitrogen tanks, used in the tooling process, and propane tanks, used for forklifts, to explode.

More than 20 employees were inside the warehouse when the fire started. Several employees suffered minor injuries but refused treatment, he added. The company is a supplier of precision products and assemblies for the automotive, truck and agricultural industries. AJ Rose is headquartered in Avon.

Neighbors were not evacuated but siding to a home next to the warehouse started to melt.

“There was a lot of radiant heat. The structure was fully involved,” Norman said.

He also added that there was “a lot of smoke drifting north,” which could be seen from downtown.

Norman said no firefighters were hurt. The fire Wednesday morning is the third major incident involving Northeast Ohio warehouses in recent weeks.

One person was killed and at least a dozen people hurt on Feb. 20 in an explosion and fire at I. Schumann & Co., a manufacturing company. On Feb. 18, a boiler at a Cleveland-cliffs plant exploded in Warren.

“It’s definitely a concern for us,” Norman said. “Every run we go on we learn something. We are constantly doing our inspections.”