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NATURAL GAS LINE EXPLOSION LIBBY AND LEE RD. INTERSECTION MAPLE HEIGHTS OHIO MARCH 11, 2002 MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A major gas explosion occurred Monday afternoon in Maple Heights, causing an enormous fire to break out.
NewsChannel5 reported that emergency crews were called to the scene before the explosion in response to the detection of a gas leak and a water main break near the intersection of Lee and Libby roads in Maple Heights.
Officials said that at 3:30 p.m., shortly after crews began evacuating the area, the explosion occurred. The fire then erupted, with flames shooting 150 feet into the air.
There has been construction going on in the area recently, and officials believe that a contractor might have hit a 20-inch-long natural gas line, causing the leak and subsequent explosion.
Shortly after 4 p.m., crews were able to shut off three separate gas valves that were fueling the fire. Firefighters put out all the flames shortly thereafter.
Police evacuated hundreds of people from residences, businesses and a nearby retirement home. Officials also said that a Walgreen's and a 7-Eleven apparently suffered extensive damage.
The fire also engulfed numerous vehicles in the area.
Officials said that as of early evening, there were no reported injuries.
Officials said that the fire knocked out the power in the area, and the situation caused a major traffic jam. Retirement home officials were concerned, because many of the residents who rely on oxygen tanks were affected by the evacuation and power outage.
Most of the evacuated residents will not be able to stay in their homes Monday night, because with their electricity and gas out of service, they will have no heat.
The Red Cross set up a shelter at Maple Heights High School for residents who cannot get back into their homes. There will be cots, refreshments and nurses on hand.   Pre-Ignition Pre-Ignition TRAFFIC LIGHT FROM LIBBY/LEE HANGING IN STATION 1 BAY Below is the Firehouse magazine of June 2002 featuring a story about the Libby/Lee gas fire in PDF format. For those who are not familiar with it, Firehouse magazine is the largest distributed firefighting magazine in the country. Unfortunately, this web program does not allow files as large as this to be uploaded onto the site, however we could break it up into pieces and upload it, go figure. Therefore, in order to read the article, you will have to open each page individually. Sorry for the inconvenience. PLEASE BE PATIENT, THESE FILES TAKE TIME TO DOWNLOAD!
MAGNESIUM FIRE IN STRUCTURE CAUSES MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS WALTON HILLS OHIO NOVEMBER 15, 2002 Story by Scott Berringer At approx 8:40am on Friday, November 15th, Maple Heights Fire Station 1 and Oakwood Fire Departments were dispatched for a reported working fire at Bencin Trucking located at 7277 Northfield Rd in Walton Hills.
Upon confirmation from Walton Hills PD that this was a working fire, the OIC from Maple Heights Eng 1 requested dispatch also send Maple Heights Station 2.
Upon obtaining further details, Maple Heights Fire Chief James Castelucci requested a 2nd Alarm which brought in Mutual Aid from Bedford, Bedford Heights, and Northfield Center Fire Departments.
Numerous explosions, caused by water making contact with Magnesium, were seen and heard for miles.
The fire was actually located in a business located in the Eastern of the building occupied by Bencin Trucking called Ohio Briquetting which recycles Magnesium.
When it was all said and done, Firefighters from 12 departments covering 2 counties (Cuyahoga and Summit) were called to assist with the containment of the blaze.
At 6pm, crews were still on the scene working on hot spots.      Above photos excluding WJW aerial:Scott Berringer  
Aftermath 
MAGNESIUM FIRE IN STRUCTURE CAUSES MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS GARFIELD HEIGHTS OHIO DECEMBER 29, 2003 GARFIELD HEIGHTS -- A magnesium fire at a Garfield Heights plant sent huge flames and explosions into the sky on Monday.
The fire started at about 3:30 p.m. at Garfield Alloys. The company recycles magnesium products. The flames and explosions continued late into the night.
At least ten fire departments were called in to battle the blaze. Firefighters say the fire may not be brought under control until sometime Tuesday. They could only contain it in an attempt to let it burn itself out. The fire completely destroyed Garfield Alloys and a petroleum maintenance plant.
Two huge blasts about 7:15 p.m. shot white sparks into the air and broke windows at Garfield Club Apartments on a hill overlooking the plant, prompting authorities to call for evacuations.
"It looked like the Fourth of July. The grand finale of fireworks," said witness Anthony Markovich. "One after the other. Explosion after explosion. It was amazing."
The Garfield Heights fire department is requesting that residents of the McCracken Road - Broadway area and Henry Street remain indoors during the duration of the fire. They also request that the reidents do not approach the railroad tracks.
Firefighters also had to prevent the fire from burning other nearby businesses, such as Collinwood Concrete, which was hit with embers after each explosion from the fire.
There are normally 10 to 12 people at any hour working at Garfield Alloys. No one was killed or injured in the fire.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
    
 
 
 
 
  
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