Published: June 24, 2008 11:53 am      

Back to Work

Cintas moving forward following accidental fire

CUMBERLAND - A week after an accidental fire heavily damaged the Cintas Corp. building at Bowling Green, the company is moving forward in its recovery with all of its employees already back to work.

Pam Lowe, vice president of Cintas corporate communications, said Monday the recovery is the result of "steps that businesses and individuals have taken to help us get back on line."

That recovery included on-site infrastructure repairs that have enabled the company's continuous roll towel processing plant to resume full operation. That operation is located in a second building that Cintas operates next to the building where the fire occurred.

"That's important because that facility supports all of our Cintas locations, some 40 to 50 plants, that are located east of the Mississippi River," said Joel Bell, Cintas director of engineering operations.

"The Cumberland plant depends on the infrastructure of the building where the fire occurred. A lot of local contractors have helped us, including Consolidated Electric, Columbia Gas, Allegheny Power, and Twigg Plumbing and Heating.

"Through the help of a lot of local vendors, we were able to get part of the plant back within 48 hours," said Bell.

The company official said cleanup work continues in the fire-damaged building.

"We expect to begin reconstruction within three weeks and to be fully operational in 12 to 16 weeks," said Bell.

Carl Belt Inc., the firm that built the Cintas plant in 1980, will help in the reconstruction, including placement of "one structural beam and one column," Bell said.

Through the recovery, Cintas has continued to serve its customers from other locations, including its Morgantown, W.Va., facility where approximately 30 local employees are working temporarily.

"Our employee partners were back to work within 48 hours. We are using passenger vans to transport about 30 of these workers to Morgantown to process garments for our Cumberland-based customers," said Lucas.

Lucas said the impact of the fire has been "minimal" to customer service. She also said the company has already replaced "close to 100,000 pieces."

Lucas credited the Bowling Green Volunteer Fire Company for responding to the fire within 15 minutes of the first alarm and to the Marshall Ruby company, which "had a crew here at 5 a.m. the day of the fire" to remove combustible materials from the scene.

The Cumberland plant has restored its communication and data services, including Internet and telephone systems, fully.

The June 15 fire at the Cintas facility at 11800 Industrial Park Road just off U.S. Route 220 originated at 1:14 a.m. in a pile of clothing that was ready to be cleaned, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.

No dollar figure has been provided concerning the extent of damage to the building and its contents.

Bell, who works in four states, said he was pleasantly surprised by the community support extended to Cintas after the fire.

"People in town were friendly and courteous and the interest has been pretty amazing," said Bell. "I haven't been in too many places where the town has come together like it has here."

With its corporate headquarters located in Cincinnati, Cintas provides uniforms, floor mats, scheduled cleaning and janitorial supplies to its customers.

The company "provides specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North America." Cintas operates more than 400 facilities in the U.S. and Canada, employing more than 34,000 people, according to the company Web site.

Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.