Fire destroys St. Louis County business, surrounding area evacuated

By Jeff Small

KSDK -- A three-alarm fire at a St. Louis County plant forced the evacuation of dozens of employees working in the industrial area Friday afternoon.

The fire broke out around 3:30 p.m. at the North American Galvanizing Company near Olivette. A fire started near the end of the business day while a handful of workers were inside. It's not clear what sparked the fire, which took hours to get under control.

It was a dramatic and at times scary scene as more than 15 different firefighting agencies were called into action. Because of the unknowns in the fire, it was decided a one block area should be evacuated.

"We didn't know what we were up against in the building and anytime you get into a commercial building fire you don't know," said Olivette Fire Chief John Bailot.

Officials said it's going to take several agencies to come up with a true reason for the fire, but say it could have been worse.

"The building will probably need to be replaced but no employees were hurt and no firefighters were hurt and that's the most important thing," said Chief Bailot.

The evacuation order never affected any homeowners since the one block area included industrial businesses. Calls to the company for comment were not returned.