Fire rocks Ohio secondary aluminum producer

Media reports indicate noticeable damage at Imperial Aluminum in Minerva, Ohio.

Photo courtesy of WOIO-TV, Cleveland.

Photo courtesy of WOIO-TV, Cleveland.

A Cleveland television station is reporting that a fire at the Imperial Aluminum facility in Minerva, Ohio, about 75 miles from Cleveland, has caused considerable damage.

WOIO-TV says an explosion and fire at the scrap-melting Imperial Aluminum plant in Minerva “resulted in a structure fire” that caused at least one person to be taken to a regional hospital.

On its website, Imperial Aluminum describes itself as producing “secondary aluminum alloys with facilities to service the Southeast and Midwest. We recycle all types of aluminum scrap into the die-cast and foundry alloys specified by our customers.”

The company is part of the Chicago-based Imperial Group, which also has scrap facilities in Chicago and is a producer of some 75,000 tons annually of secondary zinc in Chicago.