No injuries after plasma cutter sparks fire at closed Hastings manufacturer

HASTINGS, Neb. — For the second time in the last few months, Hastings firefighters helped extinguish a fire at a shuttered manufacturing business.

Hastings Fire and Rescue responded to a fire alarm at the Eaton Corp. building around 10:00 a.m. A news release says the business is closed, but employees and contractors are on-site disassembling and removing equipment. Workers were using a plasma cutter to cut metal and accidentally ignited built-up oil residues, creating a fire that was spreading across the area. The release says the automatic sprinkler system kept the fire limited until crews were able to extinguish it completely. 

The Hastings Fire Marshal issued two citations for failure to follow a hot work permit, directly resulting in a structure fire.

There were no injuries.

The incident is similar to a fire caused by hot work on January 6 at the Eaton building.