Orange : Employees Help Fight Fire at Carpet Plant

Quick-thinking employees helped firefighters battle a potentially hazardous blaze at a carpet and cushion manufacturing firm Monday afternoon.

“They just jumped in there and grabbed the hoses and got right on it,” said H. Todd Blackford, director of human resources for the Great Western Carpet & Cushion Co.

The employees “did an excellent job. They really had it under control,” said Blackford, one of two employees sent to the hospital for observation following the fire. Larry Benedict, 38, of Orange was the other employee taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. Both suffered from smoke inhalation.

About 50 firefighters from Orange and Anaheim put out the fire outside the company at 2068 N. Batavia St., where a pile of 33 polyfoam buns caught fire shortly after 3 p.m., Orange Battalion Chief Darell Verburg said.

Dense clouds of smoke rose from the polyfoam, considered a carcinogen, but the wind sent the fumes in an upward direction.

Because the smoke quickly dissipated, there was no need to call firefighters who specialize in dealing with hazardous materials, Verburg said.

Firefighters used equipment to avoid the fumes, but some employees who used house water lines to help put out the fire were exposed to the smoke. Blackford and Benedict were treated and released from St. Joseph Hospital after complaining of irritated throats.

There was no damage to the building. The Fire Department could not give a damage estimate Monday.