By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
One hundred fifteen years of history went up in flames Tuesday morning. Even more tragic, 30 people could potentially be out of a job before Christmas.
At approximately 5:45 a.m. the Mansfield Brass and Aluminum Corporation in New Washington was reported to have been on fire. No injuries were reported in the blaze, and as of 11 a.m. the fire was still being fought by firefighters from New Washington Fire Department with assistance from Tiro-Auburn, Liberty, Chatfield, Attica, Lykins, Bloomville, and Plymouth fire departments in battling the flames.
New Washington Fire Chief Mark Heefner spoke about the fire.
“So far the only thing we know is that it started in the front corner here in the offices. Other than that . . . it is still a working fire so I don’t have any more information,”
Heefner said.
“There were a couple workers here getting things started for the day,” Heefner continued. “There were no injuries.”
Heefner added that the fire had been contained to the finished part of the building.
At 10:30 a.m. the Bucyrus Fire Department joined the fire fight utilizing its hook and ladder 
engine to combat flames and hot spots that were unable to be reached with other engines on scene.
According to New Washington Historical Society Director Joe Blum, the building was built in 1911 by the Reynolds Aluminum Company (not to be confused with Reynolds aluminum foil) and was the second aluminum foundry in the United States. In 1929 Bremer Aluminum Company purchased the foundry from Reynolds. In the 1940s the building was purchased by Mansfield Brass, which then relocated from Mansfield to New Washington. In 2014 Russ Nelson of Nelson Aluminum Foundry & Sons, Inc. out of Geauga County purchased the company for $1.3 million.
Blum added that the building started with casting pots, pans, footsteps for cars, and waffle irons, but fears of carcinogens from the aluminum led the company to transition into making pumps.
The fire drew a few spectators, many of whom had either worked at the foundry, or were currently employed at the foundry. Employee Kevin Manley had found out about the fire and attempted to retrieve his items in a portion of the building that wasn’t aflame, but was turned back due to safety issues. Manley reflected on the devastation.
“It is horrible. I hope they can rebuild, but I highly doubt it. Hopefully, we get a paycheck, they are three weeks behind now,” Manley said.
Manley spoke about what will happen next for him.
“Hopefully, find a new job, hopefully there is something close to town that is better.”
Union representative Reginald Shaw reflected on the fire.
“I really don’t know. We received a call this morning from one of our members here who said that the place was on fire. I came over to see if there were any injuries to our members in there. It looks devastating. It looks bad, looks really bad.”
Shaw noted that there were two or three people in the building at the time of the fire.
“I haven’t had a chance to talk with the company yet to see what the ramifications may be after this and how long they will be out of work or anything. So I am here to talk to some of the company officials and see where we go from here. We are willing to work with the company to do whatever needs to be done. This place is vital to the community here, it (has) been here a long time. A lot of our members have been here for 20, 30 years plus. So it is very vital to this community.”
Heefner added that the state fire marshal’s office would be called to help with the investigation of the fire.
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