Foundry fire flares up

TACOMA -- A metal foundry fire flared up in its second day Friday, a day after the roof at the Bradken-Atlas foundry collapsed following a large structure fire.

Tacoma Fire officials said the fire picked up speed around 6 a.m. Friday morning in a building in the 3000 block of South Wilkeson Street.  There were no injuries reported. However, structural instability in the building has changed how firefighters would typically mount a defense, and firefighters were forced to wait for the molten metal present in the building to burn down before they could extinguish the blaze.

Firefighters from six stations first responded to the commercial structure fire Thursday night. Officials said they arrived on scene to find a 50-foot by 50-foot section burning in the large commercial manufacturing building.

Firefighters said the fire started after a portion of the roof above a molten metal casting operations collapsed onto hot material and caught fire.

South Wilkeson Street was closed between Center Street and South Tacoma Way Thursday.

The factory produces metal casings used for a variety of projects.