Firefighters Wrap Up At Donnelley

HARRISONBURG — After roughly 18 hours at the scene, firefighters wrapped up their work around 11 a.m. Thursday at a three-alarm blaze at the RR Donnelley plant on Kratzer Road.

 

The fire broke out around 5 p.m. Wednesday in the baler room of the facility, which prints books, magazines and other materials.

 

Deputy Chief Jeff Michael of Rockingham County Fire and Rescue said it was a long process putting out the blaze.

 

“The fire was in stacks of bundles of paper. … They were pressed together like hay bales,” Michael said.

 

All the bundles of paper were removed from the facility at 2347 Kratzer Road and hosed down to make sure all the fire was out.

 

About 75 firefighters from every fire station stretching from Bridgewater to New Market responded to the fire.

 

No injuries were reported at the plant, located just north of the city limits.

 

Previous smaller fires reported there also have started with the baler, a machine that bales scraps of paper, a byproduct of the printing process.

 

Michael said fire marshals were at the scene throughout the day Thursday trying to determine what sparked the fire. As of press time, a cause had not been determined.

 

A damage estimate has yet to be determined, but firefighters say they don’t believe there was any major structural damage to the building.

 

Wednesday night, Donnelley Vice President of Manufacturing Gary Calleo made a brief statement outside the plant, saying all emergency procedures had been undertaken and that all employees were safe. Workers were evacuated shortly after the fire broke out around 5 p.m., according to fire officials.

 

How many people were working at the time of the fire could not be confirmed.

 

Messages left for company officials were not returned Thursday.

 

The company is the sixth-largest employer in Rockingham County, according to the Virginia Employment Commission.

 

Contact Pete DeLea at 574-6278 or pdelea@dnronline.com