Cause of Fire at Rockwell Plant Eludes Investigators

The Los Angeles Fire Department ended its investigation of a fire that resulted in the evacuation of about 1,200 Rockwell International employees without determining the cause, a department spokesman said Friday.

The fire, discovered at 9:20 a.m. Thursday and quickly extinguished, occurred next to a 900-gallon tank that held a highly toxic acid mixture used to wash parts for space shuttle engines. The tank was not ruptured in the fire, and none of the acid mixture escaped.

The fire was at Rockwell’s Rocketdyne Division plant in the 6600 block of Canoga Avenue.

Fire Department spokesman Ed Reed said an arson investigation team “could not come up with anything that was conclusive in any fashion and, as a result, it is just listed as undetermined.”

Reed speculated that the fire, which charred the outside of the tank but caused little damage, could have been caused by a chemical reaction, an electrical short, a discarded cigarette or other sources.

The fire started beneath wooden walkways next to the tank. Reed said a cigarette could have been dropped unnoticed between the walkway planks.

Reed said the fire “appears to have been an unusual freak action of some sort” and not the result of any ungoing safety problem at the plant.

Rocketdyne spokesman Pat Coulter said the company’s investigation of the fire will continue until a cause has been determined. The acid tank and the flooring around it were removed Thursday night as part of the investigation.

Doctors and paramedics examined 57 workers at the scene Thursday and sent 10 of them to hospitals for observation.