LEWISTON — Firefighters battled flames Tuesday night in a machine at Elmet Technologies on Lisbon Street.
Firefighters were first sent to the building at 1560 Lisbon St. at about 7 p.m. after alarms sounded inside the building. When firefighters first arrived, they found heavy smoke inside the building but it appeared that the fire had been doused with an extinguisher.
A fire official said the machine was leaking hydrogen. A second machine providing the hydrogen was shut down.
As fire crews prepared to clear the scene a short time later, there was a small explosion and flames reignited and the machine was ablaze once more. The machine was shut down and fire crews remained at the scene at 7:45 p.m., mopping up and investigating the source of the blaze.
There were no reports of injury.
It was not immediately clear what kind of machine went up in flames, but fire officials said they had dealt with the same machine catching fire within the past two years.
Lewiston Fire Investigator Paul Ouellette was investigating the cause of the fire.
Elmet, founded in 1929, manufactures metal products at the Lewiston location. In 2019, the company was awarded a $4.2 million Department of Defense contract to develop tungsten heavy alloy and molybdenum products for the military.
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