Crime & Safety

Fire Breaks Out at Adhesive Manufacturing Plant

All five Wayne fire companies responded to the blaze.

All five fire companies put out a fire Monday evening at a facility that contained large vats of flammable industrial solvents, authorities said.

Shortly before 2 p.m., Fire Companies 1, 2, and 5 were dispatched to Clifton Adhesives on Burgess Place off of Route 23 South for a reported fire alarm, said Fire Commissioner Steve Toth.

Clifton Adhesives manufactures special industrial adhesives and coatings.

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John Gabriel, chief of Company 2, was first on the scene and found heavy smoke and flames coming from inside a mixing room that contained large vats filled with the flammable solvents, Toth said. Companies 3 and 4 were also dispatched to the scene.

Using foam, the first firefighters inside the building, with the aid of the fire suppression system, "aggressively "attacked the fire, Toth said.

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Firefighters brought the fire under control and extinguished it within 30 minutes, authorities said.

The township’s fire inspection bureau is investigating the cause of the fire, Toth said.

Fire trucks and emergency vehicles lined Route 23 South for hours Monday afternoon.

One employee sustained burns to both hands. The Wayne First Aid Squad transported the individual to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson.

Fire companies from Lincoln Park, Totowa, Little Falls, Pequannock, Pompton Lakes, and North Haledon were called to cover the empty Wayne firehouses during the incident, Toth said.

The township Fire Prevention Bureau, building inspector, and the Passaic County Health Department were assisting with the investigation and to help clean up any hazardous waste.

— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard atDaniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.


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