Trail King fire probe continues; leader praises response from those involved

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Initial investigations have not provided any insight into what caused a fire to start Friday in one of the Mitchell Trail King plant’s dust collecting units outside the main building.

According to Bruce Yakley, Trail King Industries president and chief executive officer, an investigative technician from the manufacturer of the dust collecting unit will be in Mitchell to investigate the incident today.

“I can’t say enough how proud I am of the Trail King employees,” Yakley said in an e-mail to The Daily Republic. “They reacted quickly in an emergency, assessed the situation and took appropriate action.”

An investigation by the Trail King maintenance staff has yet to yield any conclusive results regarding the cause of the fire.

The Mitchell Fire Division is no longer involved in the investigation.

The fire likely destroyed one of the plant’s dust collecting units, which are used to filter smoke and fine metal dust from the plant’s torch tables used to cut metal.

Yakley said most first-shift employees were sent home Friday due to the fire, but second-shift employees resumed work without the use of two of the plant’s torch tables.

He added by 5 p.m. Friday, a plan was put in place to deal with any production issues Trail King may face because of the fire.

In his e-mail, Yakley also thanked Mitchell’s police and firefighters.

“They did a fantastic job,” he said. “Although I really never want to see them again at Trail King, it’s comforting to know we have the highest level of civil servants in our community.”

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