What is commonly known today as “the Alro Steel fire” was one of the largest fires in the city’s history, made especially dangerous by the presence of ammonium nitrate, the same chemical believed to have caused a massive explosion on Aug. 4 in Beirut, injuring 6,000 people and killing nearly 200.

In Alpena, the blaze demolished four businesses and forced several residents from their homes, but a bit of luck and the work of dozens of firefighters and others prevented any loss of life. Amazingly, just one firefighter was taken to the hospital, treated for smoke inhalation.

In the early evening hours nearly 15 years ago, fire engulfed the former Alro Steel facility on Johnson Street, which also housed three other businesses: Thunder Bay Moving and Storage, Michigan Confidential Document Destruction, and Yellow Transportation.

Trying to control the fire in the 90,000-square-foot building was a chore unto itself, but making the emergency more dire was the threat of large explosions because three 60-ton storage tanks containing ammonium nitrate sat just yards away. The ammonium nitrate was owned by Dyno Nobel and Austin Powders Co. and was used by contractors for blasting in area quarries.

Courtesy Photo A scene of the 2005 fire at Alro Steel in Alpena.

Further complicating the situation were several railcars containing fuel oil at the facility.

A blast would have changed the shape of a significant portion of the city and likely would have caused a significant death and injury toll.

Alpena Community College and its dorms, Northern Lights Arena, Besser Co., and residential areas in Alpena’s north side were evacuated.

The Alpena hospital and Alpena County Jail, both just up the road from the conflagration, were also on alert and prepared to evacuate, if necessary, but were never forced to.

Because of the fire’s size and the additional threats, it took more than 12 fire departments — including several from Alcona and Presque Isle counties and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center — to battle the blaze. In total, 86 firefighters, 17 fire engines, and nine water tanker trucks responded.

Courtesy Photo A scene of the 2005 fire at Alro Steel in Alpena.

Crews had little chance of preventing the fire’s spread, because it started in the center of the building and then burned down several wings in different directions, said Alpena County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Adrian, who was an Alpena firefighter at the time. As the fire grew in intensity, crews shifted their focus to protecting the silos containing the ammonium nitrate.

“The fire was spreading, and there was no way to get in front of it,” Adrian said. “We set up a tower truck close to the storage tanks and used a high volume of water to keep them cool. We did this while not knowing how much chemical was in them. Overall, we fought the fire for 20 hours and spent a good part of the next day returning to put out flare-ups.”

Because the Alro Steel building had been used as a tannery, barrels of unknown chemicals were on site, said Alpena Township Fire Chief Dave Robbins, a city firefighter in 2005. The barrels would unexpectedly explode and launch into the air, he said. The immense heat and smoke, the chemicals, and water supply issues created a dangerous scenario.

Robbins said the ammonium nitrate stored at Alro Steel was the most powerful of two types.

“People assume it was nothing but fertilizer, but that is far from the truth,” Robbins said. “That stuff was produced to explode and to be used in slurry to use in blasting at places like quarries. If they would have blown, it would have been huge, and it would have been catastrophic.”

A slurry is a semiliquid mixture, typically of fine particles of manure, cement, or coal, suspended in water.

A few hours into the fire, a representative from the company showed up and emptied the substance from the silos and onto the ground, Robbins said, almost eliminating the threat of an explosion because it freed the ammonium nitrate from a pressurized area.

Alpena County Sheriff Steve Kieliszewski, whose office assisted with traffic control and other logistics during the emergency, went to the scene to take some photos, in case they were needed later in an investigation. Kieliszewski said the scene was surreal, and the sights and sound of the fire and activity around it was mesmerizing.

“It was incredible, and it was crazy how big the glow from the fire and the lights on the firetrucks was, even from many blocks away,” he said. “It was one of the bigger fires I have been at in my time in Alpena.”

Adrian said the danger is always on your mind at a large fire, but you carry on doing your job.

“We didn’t know how much of the chemical was in the storage tanks, so that lingered in the back of your mind a bit, but you just focus on the job at hand,” Adrian said. “I will say, though, that there was a lot of focus put on protecting those silos, because we knew what could potentially happen.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.