April 20 -- Damage from a large fire Friday morning at a wooden pallet facility in Akron is expected to tally about $650,000.
Operators of the Tri County Pallet & Mulch Company on Flora Avenue say they plan to rebuild and will be open for business on Monday. The company buys, sells and repairs pallets and those pallets that can't be repaired are turned into mulch.
A large building at the site -- about the length of a football field -- was destroyed in the fire first reported at 5 a.m.
The fire, which sent flames high in the air, kept scores of firefighters busy throughout the day. The last fire truck left the scene at 2 p.m. Friday.
"One truck was destroyed as well as several trailers," said company manager Renea Macko. "The mulch side of the business was not affected at all. There was a major loss on the pallet side, but we have enough resources to use that it should not affect us for too long.
"Maybe this next week we will be a little slow, but after that, we'll be up to full speed."
Akron Fire Capt. Al Bragg said it appears the fire was ignited by a saw machine used in the refurbishing of pallets.
"The tow motors were exploding and the pallets were on fire," Bragg said.
Bragg said fire crews had to chase down embers from the fire to ensure neighboring structures did not also catch on fire.
"It was a challenge because it was so windy," he said.
At one point, the fire spread to the other side of a set of railroad tracks by the business. CSX was ordered to halt rail traffic in the area while firefighters fought the blaze.
Bragg said one firefighter suffered a minor injury.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or [email protected].
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