Firefighters said when they arrived at the scene, flames were visible through an open window and smoke was pouring out of the building.
Supervisors said they had control of the fire in about twenty minutes and had the flames out in an hour.
That's when they discovered an acid tank in the same area that was leaking. Firefighters managed to identify the leaking substance as hydrofluoric acid. Dayton District Fire Chief Vincent Wiley said, "Unfortunately, hydrofluoric acid is a very serious hazardous material. Simple skin contact can cause heart problems."
Wiley said it looks like all the water used in fighting the fire mixed with the leaking acid and they had to use dikes to contain the run-off. They did stop the tank from leaking but the situation was dangerous enough that they couldn't allow workers in the building.
Firefighters called in the Dayton Regional Hazardous Materials team and the company called in an environmental services company to help in the containment and clean-up.
Wiley says that a lot of fire department gear will have to be thrown out. He says hoses, boots and pants and anything else that came in contact with the acid and water mixture will need to be thrown out. That gear cannot bedecontaminated well enough to ever be used again.
Wiley said FlowServe makes pumping equipment, valves and iron products. The fire took place in the part of the building where there are large acid baths set up to dip the iron products in to harden and treat them.
FlowServe sent first shift workers home while the clean-up operation continued. There were no reports of injuries.
Investigators said they will not be able to investigate the cause of the fire until the clean-up is complete and the area is determined to be safe.