What happened to the Sherwin-Williams paint warehouse in 1987?

On 27 May 1987 a fire broke out at the Sherwin-Williams Paint warehouse. The fire quickly spread with such intensity that it breached a two-hour firewall within minutes, engulfing the entire warehouse and 17 parked trailers.

The paint factory stored 1.5m gallons of paint and other products. It was built in 1977 over 190,000 sq.ft with walls 33 ft high.

The building had a sprinkler system and diesel fire pump providing 2,500 gpm with fire department connections to supplement the system. Unfortunately, the public water supply for Dayton, Ohio and its surrounding area was drawn partly from an qualifier over which the Sherwin-Williams paint warehouse was built, which would complicate firefighting.

How did the Sherwin-Williams paint warehouse fire start?

A workman using a motorised lift truck accidentally knocked over and spilled several cans of flammable liquid, which was ignited by a spark from the electric motor of the truck. Standards at the time did not call for EX Zoned trucks to be used.

Due to environmental concerns and possible contamination to the city’s water supply the fire department decided it would be best to let the fire burn out and not fight it with water.

What can the industry learn from the Sherwin-Williams paint warehouse fire?

An investigation into the incident concluded:

• The breach in the firewall was mainly attributed to the fire doors not closing where some had been blocked due to falling debris
• The site had exercised a good management emergency plan demonstrated by there being no significant injuries
• The sprinkler system was quickly overwhelmed and inadequate to provide control , although it was compliant with building code of the day
• Future development and redevelopment of the facility considered the aquifers and risks of fire and contamination
• The fire department made the right decision to allow the fire to burn out due to the risk of environmental pollution

By way of comparison, an incident in Switzerland saw firefighters attempt to fight a similar blaze which resulted in 30 tonnes of toxic material washing into the Rhine River. The runoff produced a chemical slick 25 miles long, killing millions of fish.