Published: April 15, 2008 08:08 am      

Plant fire damage tops $4M

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

The cause of a March 24 industrial fire remains undetermined and the cost is in the millions.

The northeast area of Hydroscience Technologies Inc., located at 5101 Airport Road, ignited shortly before 10:30 p.m. March 24, prompting response from five area fire departments - Mineral Wells, Millsap, Cool-Garner, Santo and Weatherford. Firefighters were able to clear the scene between 2:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. the next morning; a brief flare up had Mineral Wells firefighters returning to the scene again six hours later.

Mineral Wells Volunteer Fire Department Chief Steve Perdue reported the cause of the fire is “undetermined, possibly electrical. No suspicious activity is suspected.”

The estimated financial loss, including the building and its contents, he said, totaled more than $4.5 million.

Hydroscience Technologies Inc. Chief Financial Officer Roxana Novoa told the Index that between 25,000 and 30,000 square feet of their manufacturing building was damaged. She explained that their building encompasses 77,000 square feet total with their office taking up 36,000 square feet.

Although they haven’t received a report yet, Novoa said they are moving to a temporary facility in the same area near the Mineral Wells Municipal Airport for six to 18 months, depending on the company’s insurance solution. She said the temporary space is smaller than their original facility but they will keep their employees and “keep doing the best we can. … It was an uncontrolled factor of life. It was not anything anyone could see coming.”

Novoa added that this is the first time for something like this to occur to their company, which moved to Mineral Wells nine years ago. Hydroscience Technologies Inc. manufactures equipment used in oil and gas marine seismic exploration. They employ 42 people in Mineral Wells.

Perdue said the monetary loss in this fire is not the largest the department has experienced but it’s “one of the larger.” He added that the 2006 fire that sparked southwest of the airport and burned acres of land and several homes totaled $6 million.