Firefighter at Acme plant blaze suffers dehydration

1/31/2001

A Toledo firefighter was treated for dehydration yesterday after an extended search for the source of electrical fire that caused an estimated $10,000 damage to the old Toledo Edison Acme Plant on Front Street, fire authorities said.

Fire Capt. Norm Mielke was treated at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, where he was taken after about two hours of looking for the cause of fire reported at the plant, 1401 Front St., at 4:16 p.m. Fire crews discovered three burning fuse boxes, each about the size of a household refrigerator, in a third-floor room, which holds dozens of such boxes. The cause of the fire was an electrical malfunction of one of the fuses, Deputy Fire Chief John Coleman said.

Burning plastic insulation partially filled the second and third floors of the building with yellow-green smoke, which hampered firefighters' efforts to find its source. The fire was under control by 9:30 p.m., Chief Coleman said.