Up in flames

Alexander Cain
The Union-Recorder

Thu, May 15 2008

— Employees at Vernay Manufacturing experienced an unusual lunch hour Tuesday afternoon after a Vernay employee’s truck went up in flames in the company’s parking lot outside the building.
Lt. Lee Braswell with Milledgeville Fire Department Station No. 2 on Dunlap Road said crews responded to a call at around 12:50 p.m. Tuesday in regards to a vehicle on fire in the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Industrial Park off Highway 22.
“The vehicle was fully involved when we arrived,” Braswell stated.
The vehicle on fire was a 1991 Nissan truck owned by Anthony Thompson Salvador of Milledgeville, Braswell said.
The truck was parked about 80 feet from one of the building’s entrances and it took the Milledgeville Fire Department around ten minutes to extinguish the flames and ensure all “hot spots” were out, according to witnesses on the scene.
The MFD spoke with Mr. Salvador who stated he was unsure of what could have been the cause of the fire, according to Braswell.
“There didn’t seem to be any foul play involved, and we were informed that he only had liability insurance, so there was no need to investigate the fire,” Braswell stated. “The owner could not provide any information on the expectant cause in this case. He said he may have been smoking, but we are unsure and unable to confirm that as of this time.”
It was one year ago today on May 7, 2007, that the MFD responded to a fire inside the Vernay Manufacturing Plant that caused all inside to be temporarily evacuated from the building.
In that particular instance, it was discovered that a fire had begun inside one of the ovens used to cure rubber inside the building.
The company was able to resume normal operations by 11 p.m. that evening, according to published reports.

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