3-alarm fire damages Stryten plant in Salina

SALINA, Kan. (KSNW) — A fire at the Stryten Energy Battery Plant in Salina on Wednesday took almost four hours to put out. Deputy Chief Shane Pearson, Salina Fire Department, said the call came in just after 4 p.m. Before the fire was out, a second and then a third alarm was dispatched.

The first alarm was dispatched at 4:04 p.m. after 911 got a call about heavy black smoke coming from the roof of the Stryten plant, formerly the Exide plant, at 413 E. Berg Road.

As the Salina Fire Department and Saline County Fire District #2 arrived, they saw the smoke coming from the roof area of the northwest corner of the plant. Pearson said it indicated a significant working fire inside the facility.

Because of the size of the fire, the high temperature inside the building, and the hot weather, a second alarm was requested at 4:11 p.m.

The third alarm was called out at 5:29 p.m. due to the heat. Firefighters got the fire under control at 6:40 and declared it completely out at 7:55 p.m.

The employees were evacuated from the plant, but the neighborhoods around Stryten did not have to be evacuated.

“We did confer with Stryten Management and Saline County Emergency Management early during suppression operations and determined that no evacuation was necessary and no imminent danger to the public was present,” Pearson said.

He said no one was injured.

Pearson said investigators have determined the fire started in the northwest portion of the plant, which is several stories tall and has open mezzanine platforms between each floor. There is substantial fire, smoke and water damage to the equipment and the sections of the building that burned.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The agencies and businesses that responded to the fire include:

• Salina Fire Department,
• Saline County Fire District #2,
• Saline County Emergency Management,
• Salina Police Department,
• Saline County Sheriff’s Office,
• Kansas Highway Patrol, and
• Representatives from Evergy who isolated and secured electric power to the facility.

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