Bales Burn at Beaulieu’s Marglen, No One Hurt

Armuchee, GA, July 1, 2007--A Saturday fire at Marglen Industries unit of Beaulieu of America destroyed hundreds of scrap-plastic bales used to make carpet and gave a couple of firefighters heat exhaustion, authorities said, according to the Rome News-Tribune.

The newspaper reported that a plume of dark smoke from the afternoon fire could be seen for miles.

The large bales of crushed, plastic soda bottles caught fire behind the plant at about 1:30 p.m., and firefighters spent more than three hours battling the blaze, said Deputy Chief Benny Bohannon of the Rome Fire Department.

“I am not sure what those bales cost. But we burned up about half of them,” Bohannon said. “It was a big fire.”

The fire spread across an area of bales measuring about 100 feet by 200 feet, and a massive plume of black smoke rose from the rear of the plant site.

Chief Gordon Henderson with Rome Fire Department said the center of the blaze where firefighters were working probably reached in excess of 1,500 degrees. Gordon County and Bartow County firefighters also responded to the fire.

The smoke had cleared by 5 p.m.

No injuries were reported although several firefighters had to take breaks because of the danger of heat exhaustion.

Attempts to contact plant officials Saturday were unsuccessful, and the cause of the fire was unknown.

Romans might remember a more serious blaze at Marglen industries in May 2001.

During that fire, two propane tanks filled with 45,000 gallons of propane fuel ignited on a Sunday afternoon.

That fire at the carpet plant forced 60 plant employees and 600 area residents to evacuate.

Related Topics:Beaulieu International Group