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Smoke billows out of JR Manufacturing's headquarters in Fort Recovery on Saturday afternoon. No one was injured, but the site is considered a total loss.
FORT RECOVERY - A massive fire laid waste to JR Manufacturing's headquarters in Fort Recovery on Saturday afternoon, leaving a community reeling from the loss of a top employer.
No one was reported injured in the blaze that took the combined efforts of 15 fire departments to quell but the site is believed to be a total loss. The 70,600-square-foot complex consisted of manufacturing areas, corporate offices and a machine shop.
This map helps locate the location of JR Manufacturing.
The company at 900 Industrial Drive was founded in 1998 and produces headrests, seat frames, armrests and other tubing and wire components for the automotive seating industry.
"JR Manufacturing is devastated by the loss of our corporate office due to an industrial fire," the company said in a statement. "First and foremost, we are grateful that our team members were able to safely evacuate the facility. Additionally, we are thankful that all first responders remained safe as well."
Mercer County Community Development Director Jared Ebbing spent Sunday pulling together information about potential financial assistance from state and federal resources that he plans to share with village and company officials today.
"It's devastating for the village, for the county, for all those employees, and it's just a matter of what the best foot forward is," Ebbing said. "I'm hopeful and confident they will (rebuild) but that's going to take some time and it's going to take a lot of support and programs from all different angels to help them through that. But they will."
Smoke covers two St. Henry firefighters as they spray water inside the northwest corner of JR Manufacturing at 900 Industrial Drive.
The Southwest Mercer Fire Department was dispatched at 5:17 p.m. Saturday to a fire at 900 Industrial Drive, Fort Recovery, according to assistant chief John Kaffenberger. Heavy smoke was billowing from several areas of the facility upon arrival, he said.
They were soon joined by 14 other fire departments from Mercer, Auglaize and Darke counties and from across the state line in Randolph and Jay counties, Kaffenberger pointed out.
Sizing up the scene, firefighters opted for a defensive attack.
"Once we got on scene we realized we could not go inside the building. We decided we had to fight it from the outside due to the temperatures and construction inside the building and the liability of it possibly falling down from the damage of the heat inside," Kaffenberger explained.
St. Henry firefighter Gary Roessner points to flames visible through an opening on the north side of the building.
A Southwest Mercer firefighter sprays water through a hole in the roof on the west side of the building.
Firefighters deployed a number of strategies such as peeling off exterior metal to create an opening to blast water inside.
"Most of the time we had the aerial ladder up doing a water tower motion," he said, noting a nozzle at the tip of the ladder, controlled at the ground level, sprayed water onto the building.
Roughly 16 tankers were used as part of tanker shuttles to draw water from two ponds south of town and one east of town and transport it back to the scene to fight the fire, Kaffenberger said.
Southwest Mercer firefighters didn't return to the station until 5:02 a.m. Sunday.
"We couldn't get it under control due to the way the building was laid out," he said.
It has not been determined how or where the fire started in the facility, Kaffenberger said. The fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal.
Kaffenberger commended the coordinated efforts of the fire departments and thanked the community for its support during the ordeal.
"We're very happy with everybody that helped with the fire situation. The community was great with donating pop, water, food, beverages, pizzas," he said, adding random people freely gave the items to officials.
An aerial view of JR Manufacturing on Sunday morning.
Fort Recovery Mayor Dave Kaup in a statement posted on social media also thanked the firefighters, saying it was amazing to watch them work together "to put out a monster blaze."
"Also thanks to local businesses and neighbors that supplied food and water to all the people working on the fire," he said. "It truly shows why and how we live in the greatest area in the world in my opinion!"
JR Manufacturing in a statement said until further notice, no one is permitted to enter the 900 West Industrial Drive as the investigation plays out.
"Thank you to all the local community members and organizations that have reached out to extend sympathies and support to JR Manufacturing during this time," the company said. "At JRM, 'we are people first' and we ask that you keep our team members in your thoughts while we sort through the details."
JR Manufacturing has two other support buildings on Industrial Drive, leases space inside the Sycamore Group building in Coldwater and operates plants in Manchester, Tennessee, and Aguascalientes, Mexico. Regionally, it has about 400 employees, Ebbing said.
Manufacturing equipment can be seen inside the southeast corner of the building.
It's a powerhouse manufacturer of products for many different companies in the auto industry and has invested considerably in high-tech innovation, Ebbing said.
"It was probably one of my favorite places to take people on tours. We had eighth graders there last fall. I had Congressman Bob Latta there last year," he recalled. "The technology, the automation and the robotics would blow your mind."
Ebbing said he has been in contact with Jobs Ohio, the Ohio Department of Development, State Rep. Angie King, R-Celina, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima and U.S. Rep. Bob Latta.
He said he was provided with information about the U.S. Small Businesses Administration's disaster assistance which he will share with others.
Ebbing said he wants JR Manufacturing to know "at every level - local, county, regional, state, federal - we all have their back in helping them rebuild and continue on."
"It's going to be tough in the short-term. All those employees, what do you do when you wake up the next day and your facility is gone, your office is gone?" Ebbing said.
Remains of the building lie scorched on Sunday morning.
Though the county has felt the ruinous wrath of tornadoes in recent years, Saturday's fire represents a new level of destruction, Ebbing said.
"I don't ever remember something like this where a fire took out the entire facility," Ebbing said. "It's going to be a shock for a while."
Ebbing said he assumes the company will rebuild given that its greatest asset in Fort Recovery is the people who are still here.
"At the end of the day, it's hard and it's going to cost a lot of money but things can be replaced, people can't," he said.
Plant manager Trent Hamrick declined to answer questions about the fire but provided the company's statement about the incident.
