1. Heavy smoke reported. The incident was initially reported as heavy smoke coming from the structure about 8:30 a.m. Saturday. During the fire, there were some reports that included molten metal reportedly flowing through the building and the second floor concrete collapsing, causing crews to be removed from the first floor.
2. Apparent malfunction. AK officials confirmed that at about 8 a.m. Saturday, a ladle in the steel-making process appeared to have malfunctioned, releasing liquid steel at the Basic Oxygen Furnace located near the 3400 block of Lefferson Road at the 2,781-acre facility. Middletown fire officials said the ladle holding the molten steel released before being poured into the molds as part of the steel-making process. On Monday, AK officials said a ladle at the caster malfunctioned in the melt shop, releasing liquid steel.
3. Multiple fire departments summoned. About 60 firefighters from the Middletown, Monroe, Franklin and Liberty Twp. fire departments were needed to put the fire out. The fire was reported out about three hours later. No employees were injured, and one firefighter sustained minor injuries and was taken to Atrium Medical Center, where he was treated and released.
4. Repairs underway. AK Steel officials said cleanup and repairs have started at the Basic Oxygen Furnace where the malfunction occurred. On Monday, AK officials said the current estimate for operations to resume at the melt shop is eight to 10 days. During that time, AK will utilize production from the melt shops at its Dearborn Works and Butler Works facilities to support their customers' needs.
5. Damages being assessed. Middletown fire officials said it could take weeks to determine the damage as a result of the malfunction. On Monday, AK officials said they did not expect any material impact on shipments to its contract customers, including its automotive customers. However, AK anticipates the outage will reduce its sales to the commodity carbon spot market.
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