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Email alerted owner of Columbus industrial fire

COLUMBUS, Ind. (WISH) – Fire crews responded to an industrial fire that was contained inside a Columbus area building in operation since 1956.

When Columbus Fire Department (CFD) arrived at Columbus Engineering Inc., on the 6600 block of South 50 West, at 4:29 p.m. Sunday, they reported smoke coming from the building.

Fire crews were told where exactly the fire was located inside the building because of the technology that the business put in place beforehand.

Mike Noblitt, the business owner, told investigators that he got an email about the fire as soon as it started. He said that there are several machines within the building that can be monitored remotely with technology.

Noblitt stated that he thought the fire began in a dust collecting unit used in fabrication.

With this information, fire crews disconnected electricity to the building and put the fire out within minutes.

Despite that, the company reported the machine affected was a total loss, estimated the cost to be approximately $20,000.

CFD is still investigating the cause of the fire.