Fire Causes Equipment Damage

It took firefighters roughly 40 minutes Tuesday to combat a one-alarm oven fire at Foss Manufacturing in Hampton.

While Fire Chief Chris Silver said the fire was knocked down relatively quickly, he said the damage to some of the automotive carpeting equipment could be substantial.

"We're probably talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Silver. "It shut production down in one particular line, so they're also going to lose productivity." 

Silver said the "serious" fire, which started at about 3:20 p.m. and caused no injuries, is still under investigation, so he said he was "purely guessing" at the amount of damage done. 

Silver said Tuesday it appears the fire started when resin in an oven designed to heat the material burst into flames, sending fire through the ductwork and exhaust system connected to the machine.

There was substantial smoke in the interior of that area of the "massive" manufacturing building when firefighters arrived on scene, said Silver.

He said the flames were contained to the oven and ductwork, though, and crews were able to knock down the flames using two hand lines. There was no smoke or fire in any other parts of the building.

While the fire was mostly contained by the machinery, Silver said his department was aided more by the fact that they were prepared because there was a similar fire in the same oven about 2 1/2 years ago.

Workers at Foss Manufacturing were allowed to reenter the building Tuesday, and other areas of the plant were able to get back to work, said Silver.

He said the area of the building where the resign caught fire will be closed indefinitely. 

Fire and rescue personnel from Portsmouth, Seabrook, Exeter and Rye also responded to the scene, while North Hampton, Hampton Falls, and Newburyport, Mass., provided station coverage.

Hampton police also provided assistance.

During the Foss call, there was also an accident on the northbound side of the Hampton Tolls. It was unclear how severe that incident was, though, as state police couldn't be reached for comment.