HOPEWELL, Va. -- Fire crews extinguished a fire at the Hopewell Water Renewal treatment plant Friday morning.
The city says the fire started around 10:30 a.m. when contractors were working on a sludge holding tank and cut a ventilation pipe to remove the pipe as part of a project.
City officials say sparks from the cut pipe got into the ventilation system, causing a fire that spread throughout the system.
That fire grew from the basement to the roof inside the ventilation pipe.
Hopewell Fire and neighboring departments responded to the plant.
The crews were able to extinguish the fire with help from the Water Renewal staff who closed valves and shut down vent fans.
City officials say the fire and damage was contained primarily to the ventilation pipe, which was in the process of being replaced as part of a capital project.
"Water Renewal staff believes that the impact to treatment will be short-lived. There will be no interruption to sewer service to residential or industrial customers," said a city spokesperson in a release.
