BURRILLVILLE -- A fast-moving fire broke out in the main plant of the Bruin Plastics Company yesterday morning, sending three employees to the hospital.
Shortly after 9:15, a laminating machine in the company's main work area caught fire, according to Bruin Plastic's coowner Steve Angelone, sending heavy smoke into most of the wood-and-brick building's passages and forcing nearly 65 employees to evacuate into the parking lot.
As flames rose into the building's ventilation ducts, the fire quickly spread onto the roof, despite the sprinkler system that had triggered automatically.
By 9:30, all four Burrillville fire departments were on the scene or en route to the rear of the company's Joslin Road campus.
Harrisville Fire Department Chief Mark St. Pierre said two fire crews, each consisting of three fire firefighters, went into the building to quench the flames. He said another two crews of the same size climbed to the roof and attacked the fire there.
"The sprinklers pretty much held it in check until the crews could get inside and finish the fire off," St. Pierre said. "In all, there was some damage to the roof, as well as some water damage from the sprinklers, and a lot of smoke."
When the fire broke out, several of the company's employees stayed inside the building, trying to put the fire out. Three workers were taken by rescue crew to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, where they were treated for smoke inhalation.
The Bruin Plastics Company makes laminated raw materials that are used in making tarps and other kinds of large plastic coverings.
Standing in the parking lot as the fire departments wrapped up its operations, Angelone said he didn't think the fire would seriously hurt his business.
"It's just an interruption," he said. "We should have our office up and running by this afternoon."
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