Electrical fire causes 1.5 million in damage

LITTLE ROCK, AR – An early morning electrical fire caused one and a half million dollars in damage. Fire officials say the cost of the blaze could rise if the plant is unable to reopen Monday.

Captain Randy Hickmon with Little Rock Fire Department says firefighters responded to a blaze in an electrical control room at the Welspun plant around 4:30 Saturday morning. He says attempts to douse the blaze were hampered by difficulty in cutting power to the area affected. Once the electricity was cut-off firefighters had to used dry chemical extinguishers to put it out. He says water cannot be used on this type fire.

The Welspun plant is closed on the weekends. Parts to make repairs have already been ordered. It is not yet known if repairs can be made in time for the plant to reopen Monday.

Hickmon says one plant official told him it would cost at least a half million dollars a day for each day of lost production. No word yet from Welspun whether the plant will be able to reopen on Monday.