At approximately 2300 hours on April 29, 2017, a fire occurred at the Protech Metal Finishing Facility located at 120 Tellico Port Road, Vonore, Monroe County, Tennessee. The facility conducted metal finishing operations such as zinc and nickel plating, aluminum and chrome anodizing, and painting and coating. The facility had multiple 3000-gallon process tanks containing nitric acid, sulfuric acid aluminum salt, sodium hydroxide and nickel sulfate in the building. Large quantities of acetone, oil based paints and other miscellaneous hazardous substances were also stored onsite. A waste water treatment tank, believed to be approximately 2000-gallons in capacity, is also present in the building. The facility is located adjacent to the Little Tennessee River, the Tennessee River and Tellico Lake.
The local fire department responded and used large volumes of water to contain and extinguish the fire. The Monroe County Emergency Management Agency requested assistance from Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and EPA due to the hazardous materials involved. OSC Eichinger was deployed at approximately 0115 hours. The fire department ceased extinguishment operations at approximately 0210 hours because of the presence of hazardous materials and concerns with the contaminated runoff water. No firefighting foam was used. The building was a complete loss and is unsafe to enter.
