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PIKE TWP. — A massive blaze at an oil company took firefighters six hours to get under control Thursday and will require an extensive environmental cleanup.
More than 50 agencies responded — including every fire department in Clark County — to the fire at the R.D. Holder Oil Co., 2219 Folk Ream Road.
The blaze produced flames that shot 200 feet up, black smoke could be seen as far away as Dayton and Butler County, and the plume even showed up on weather radar.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials at the scene determined that oil spilled into a tributary of Donnels Creek, which feeds into Mad River, said spokeswoman Heather Lauer.
Officials used vacuum equipment and other techniques to remove environmental contaminants, according to Bethel Twp. and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Fire Chief Jacob King.
“We pushed hard to protect the environment,” King said. “We should have things back to normal in a couple days.”
Public and private hazardous materials teams contained petroleum-based contaminants to no more than a quarter mile downstream, said Lt. Brian Wirth of Springfield Fire Rescue Division and a member of the Clark County hazardous materials team.
Firefighters ramped up the use of water and foam to quench the flames after the fire spread throughout R.D. Holder’s entire facility.
A Bethel Twp. firefighter was treated for a minor leg injury, and all 15 employees at the R.D. Holder plant were accounted for. Homes in the surrounding area had minimal to no damage.
The fire started about 11 a.m. as R.D. Holder crews loaded a semi-tanker, said company owner Bob Holder.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but King believed it ignited while workers transferred a fluid from one tank to another. It was not immediately known what type of fluid was being transferred.
After about 45 minutes, firefighters ordered first responders and company employees back as the blaze spread. Transformers exploded and electric lines fell on the scene about 12:45 p.m., forcing firefighters back even more. And as the fire spread, the building began to collapse.
The company supplies diesel fuel, heating oil, gasoline, Dragon racing fuel, bio-diesels and lubricants.
Before the fire spread, R.D. Holder employees salvaged all servers and some files, and hope to operate out of their Bellefontaine facility today, Holder said.
At the time of the fire, Holder said the company only had lubricants at the site. However, King said the fire involved several petroleum products and fuel oil, including 55 gallon drums of petroleum product.
Some oil was found in the tributary near the facility. Lauer said the tributary was “running orange-red.” Veolia Environmental Services of Dayton had booms in the tributary to try to stop the flow of the oil.
Michelle Simmons, environmental manager for the Dayton Water Department, said her department recommended the Mad River intakes closed overnight as a precaution, even though the Ohio EPA does not expect any impact to the Mad River surface water from runoff.
“They expect minimal impact where our intakes are,” she said. Any possible runoff will have passed the water supply intakes by morning, she said.
The city of Springfield’s water supply isn’t threatened by the fire runoff, Operations Engineer Tim Weaver said.
The city’s well fields tap an aquifer along Mad River off of Eagle City Road west of U.S. 68. It also has a ridge line along it, creating almost a confined pond that provides more protection.
“We are upstream of their problem,” Weaver said.
Runoff of contaminated surface water is a common concern in fighting fires near hazardous materials, Lauer noted. “When you knock down a fire of any size, you’re going to have the water picking up contaminants.”
The Ohio EPA likely will monitor the stream and other water sources for the foreseeable future. Residents near the fire have well water, and several horse farms in the area rely on the stream.
The OEPA and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration have no record of problems at the site.
Chemical fire posed numerous risks
Nick Heimlich, chief of the Springfield Fire Rescue Division, said firefighters have to be aware of numerous risks when fighting a fire of Thursday’s magnitude.
The chemicals can seep into the clothes and skin of first responders, contaminate the air, and when mixed with water can create a slurry that will create an environmental hazard as it seeps into streams and waterways. It is not like fighting a typical fire.
Some surrounding homes were evacuated and people with farm animals had been advised to keep them away, King said.
Having enough water to keep flames under control was a challenge. Without hydrants, fire crews trucked water into the site, including from Northwestern schools and a North Hampton water tower.
Firefighters used 5,000 to 6,000 gallons of water a minute, King said.
Firefighters handling the blaze went to Springfield’s distribution district and filled up tankers with water from the city’s hydrants, said Allen Jones, superintendent of Springfield’s water treatment plant.
As crews worked to keep a steady supply of water handy, officials remained concerned about the potential for explosions. There were countless large explosions during the first several hours of the fire — a large boom followed by a ball of flame and a heat wave that spread across the area. Soot and ash rained down cross the scene.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office advised people in the immediate area to close their windows and turn off air conditioning. The advisory was issued about 1 p.m. and lifted about 6 p.m.
Clark County Health Commissioner Charles Patterson said his agency worked closely with incident commanders on the scene, as well as the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency.
Brian Huxtable, of the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency, advised people to avoid the smoke if possible but said as far as he knows, it’s not a serious inhalation hazard.
“I think you’re going to be OK” if you came in contact with the smoke, Huxtable said. “It may cause coughing. ... Just try to avoid going out in it.”
People with prior breathing problems like asthma would probably be affected most, he said.
Neither of RAPCA’s two air pollution monitors in Clark County picked up the smoke by midafternoon, he said, probably due to their placement in relation to the smoke plume.
Northwestern Local Schools dismissed early and canceled all evening activities. Officials closed ventilation systems at the schools.
Residents near the fire expressed concern but remained calm.
Kelly Phares of 2300 Folk Ream Road lives across from the scene of the fire.
“I heard some pops and literally my house shook,” she said. “I’m concerned that something could fly over, but we don’t have any trees or anything (that would catch fire).”
Katey Willis lives at 2400 Folk Ream Road and said black debris from the fire is in her yard.
“I just happened to look outside because I thought it was just getting cloudy,” she said. “I saw (the fire) before the fire trucks got here. It’s pretty scary.”
Staff writers Michael Cooper, Matt Sanctis, Megan Gildow-Anthony and Jessica Heffner contributed to this report.
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