The fire started around 8:30 p.m. at the plant on West Stroop Road and flames were still burning after midnight, Moraine Fire Marshal Doug Hatcher said.
The fire started on the roof of the building, Hatcher said, but he could not say if there was damage within the building. He said the fire struck a newer part of the Fuyao complex, where the company had been setting up new manufacturing lines.
Fire crews had to suspend the use of aerial ladders above the roof due to lightning strikes in the area at one point. Hatcher said crews would continue working after the storm died down.
Multiple area fire departments assisted, although a Moraine dispatcher could not immediately say how many. Thousands of gallons of water were used to fight the fire.
A statement from the company said, “At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, a fire was reported at our Moraine, Ohio facility. Employees quickly implemented our emergency response plan, all were evacuated safely and first responders were notified. We will provide additional updates as we learn more but we are grateful that our employees are safe and for the professional, dedicated and quick support from local fire services.”
No cause for the fire was immediately reported. Hatcher said no fire crews or employees were injured.
At midnight, fire crews still had not been in the building as the fire was mostly on the roof of the plant, according to Hatcher. He said most of the flames were caused by roofing materials.
Hatcher said when crews first appeared at the plant there was some confusion because flames were not immediately visible.
Fire crews did a good job under tough conditions, he said.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Heavy winds in the area stoked the flames, and although there was heavy rain, that rain did not tamp down the flames for long.
Residents near the plant said they could smell a chemical odor, and smoke could be seen across parts of Kettering, Moraine, Miami Twp. and other areas.
Parts of roads surrounding the plant, including Dixie Drive, were closed to traffic. Hatcher recommended that people not drive by the plant.
Tim and Sue Turpin, West Carrollton residents, said from their vantage point near the area of Ohio 725 and Alex Road pervasive thick black smoke could be seen.
While they didn’t see flames from that distance, black smoke and haze were visible, Tim Turpin said.
“There’s a haze in the air, and a really strong chemical smell,” he said.
“And we can smell it in our house,” Sue Turpin added.
Former Ohio State Sen. Niraj Antani, a Miamisburg resident, said a Fuyao employee told him employees are being notified not to report to work Monday.
AES Ohio said electric service had been cut to the plant to help firefighters, who fought 40 mph winds as they tried to pour water on the building.
Long local history
The industrial site that houses Fuyao Glass America today has been a center of local, national and even global attention for decades.
Home over the years to Frigidaire, General Motors and now Fuyao, an international producer of automotive glass, the site has been the subject of growth, economic distress and even the spotlight of an Academy Award-winning Netflix documentary.
Fuyao, headquartered in Fuzhou, China, bought the former assembly plant in 2014, about six years after GM ceased work at the plant. The company added roughly 600,000 square feet of production space in 2025.
The company says it produces 30% of all automotive glass in the U.S.
Fuyao Glass America Vice President Amy Lei said last year the glass company had invested $1 billion in Montgomery County, and the company’s American presence is designed to serve the American market.
“Ohio is in the center of everything for what we do in the U.S.,” Lei said. “And everything we do here, stays here in the U.S.”
The company also has locations in Michigan and South Carolina, and it will be expanding its Illinois operations.
Federal agents searched Fuyao’s main plant and other area locations in the summer of 2024. No charges have been filed, and Fuyao has not been named as a target of any investigation.
The site played an integral role in federal allegations contained in a civil forfeiture filing in 2025. Federal filings alleged that a staffing company engaged in bringing in undocumented immigrants to work at the plant.
Fuyao officials have denied any wrongdoing.
Fuyao was not named as a target of the federal investigation. A federal civil filing said an organization it calls E-Z Iron Works was paid $126 million by Fuyao.
