Arson Ruled Out at Missouri Building Fire

STAFF REPORT
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)

The cause of a fire that damaged several businesses at Hanley and Manchester roads remained undetermined Tuesday but arson has been ruled out, a fire official said.

It took firefighters from more than 15 departments about five hours on Monday night to bring the blaze under control at Particle Dynamics Inc., a subsidiary of KV Pharmaceutical Co.

One Glendale firefighter was hospitalized with heat exhaustion, but no one else was injured.

"It's just a good thing that no one was hurt and that it didn't burn all the way down the block," Brentwood Fire Chief Robert Niemeyer said.

The blaze began in the center of the building in an area where employees frequently use flammable materials and plastics, Niemeyer said. While the fire's exact cause has not yet been pinpointed, he said, it was accidental.

Three adjacent buildings had heat and smoke damage.

Particle Dynamics develops and markets specialty ingredients for the pharmaceutical, nutritional, food and personal-care industries.

Several employees quickly noticed the fire and called 911. A Brentwood fire crew had just responded to an alarm call up the street from the facility, and they arrived in about a minute and a half, Niemeyer said.

"We're still assessing the impact," said Michael Anderson, a KV vice president. However, he said, the fire did not affect KV's pharmaceutical operations, which are currently shut down under a consent decree. The order prohibits KV from resuming production of both its branded and generic drugs until it meets manufacturing standards set by the Food and Drug Administration.