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FREDERICKTOWN — A reader asked about the recent fire alarms at FT Precision, 9732 Mt. Gilead Road in Fredericktown.
Andy Ellinger, State Fire Marshal’s Office public information officer, confirmed that two fires were arson. The investigations are open and ongoing.
On April 22, a Knox County Grand Jury indicted FT employee Zachery C. Snyder on two counts of aggravated arson for the fires on April 16 and April 17. Both counts are second-degree felonies.
The 36-year-old Fredericktown resident appeared for an arraignment on May 1. He was released on a personal recognizance bond. A trial date is not yet set.
FT Precision Vice President Megumi Sasaki declined to comment as an arrest has been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
A spate of fire alarms
According to the Knox County 911 operations center, the Fredericktown Community Fire District (FCFD) responded to the company eight times between February 13 and April 17.
The fire department estimates total losses at $156,500 between the runs.
The most significant incidents occurred on April 16 and April 17. Fire Chief Scott Mast requested the State Fire Marshal’s Office to send an investigator to the scene in both instances.
According to the FCFD’s run reports, the fires were on the second floor of the building.
Firefighters arrived at 10:09 p.m. on the 16th to find a Fredericktown EMS medic removing a small burning object from a room. Employees had evacuated the building.
The report states that an FT Precision employee noticed smoke coming from a janitor’s closet. He forced the door open and saw a fire at ceiling level. He moved the ceiling tile, and the burning object fell to the floor.
The report also notes the employee found a box with rags above the ceiling.
On April 17, the department arrived at 8:12 p.m. to find a fire in a mechanical room. Mast wrote in his report the fire was “suspicious in nature” as it was adjacent to the room involved in the April 16 fire.
Estimated losses for the two fires are $500 and $50,000, respectively.
Six other fire alarms at FT Precision
Two runs, on February 13 and February 20, were false alarms.
Crews confined the fire on March 6 to a plastic bucket of metal shavings found smoldering underneath a large shot blast machine. FT employees extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived.
The report states that employees believe a spark from a nearby grinder caught the shavings on fire. Employees evacuated the building with no reported injuries or other hazards.
911 operators dispatched the department twice on March 8. The first, at 8:42 a.m., showed fire coming out of the top of the shot blast machine. Filters inside the chamber were burning, and employees were using extinguishers to try and extinguish the fire.
The fire was contained inside the chamber. Fire personnel noted smoke damage on the wall.
The report states an unknown cause of the fire. Fire personnel estimated damages at $2,000.
A return run at 11:42 p.m. found employees evacuating the building.
The sprinkler system activated and extinguished a fire in the compressor room. The fire damaged tools, wiring, and materials, with estimated losses of $4,000. Fire personnel also noted smoke and heat damage to the walls.
The cause was undetermined.
Crews arrived at 7:47 p.m. on April 13 to find smoke coming from the maintenance area and compressor room, the same fire site as on March 8. An actively burning toolbox was extinguished and removed.
The sprinkler system did not activate.
The FCFD report states that materials on a rack in a second-floor room had self-extinguished before the toolbox caught fire. Fire Capt. Dwayne Canter offered the services of the state fire marshal’s office to FT Precision officials, but they declined the offer.
The fire’s cause and origin are undetermined. Estimated damages total $100,000.