Fire Prompts Redmond Metals Plant Evacuation

Redmond officials said a small fire Thursday evening at a metals casting business could have been a lot worse, but employees took the right steps and evacuated the premises.

Just before 5 p.m., 25 to 30 employees were evacuated at PCC Schlosser Castings, a metals company that makes plane parts at its facility on NE Hemlock Avenue.

Fire officials said titanium dust, which gets sucked up into a containment system, is very combustible, and somehow caught fire.

It burns very hot, they said, and the first was stuck in the ventilation and filtration system. But firefighters said they were able to pour water on it from several angles.

Fire officials said it’s about the third time something similar has happened at the facility.

Sisters and Crooked River Ranch fire crews were called in to help cover medical and other fire calls.