Philway PC Board House Fire

At approximately 10:30PM on Wednesday night, Jan/19/2011 Philway Products Inc. of Ashland, Ohio burned to the ground. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Philway was the oldest continually operating board house in the US. It was also my preferred PCB vendor, sharp people and good quality for the rugged environments I deal with.

Purportedly the owner said on a TV interview that he was not sure if he was going to rebuild or not. Will be a great loss if that is the case. Also makes me wonder even if they did want to rebuild, would the EPA allow it? Ammonia, Sulfuric Acid, Nitric Acid, Formaldehyde and other chemicals are used to make PCBs.

Philway was big in the military and Hi.Rel. Aerospace, there could be a significant ripple effect from this event. I've never been a fan of "Just In Time" inventory for just this reason. Luckily from my perspective no work of mine was in process.

Someone wondered what will happen about tooling? Do we have to pay for it again should they rebuild? Obviously we will if they don't rebuild. Time will tell, the lives of those involved deserve more consideration and help right now, some links from the news:

• Firefighters Battle Philway Products Fire In Ashland
• 1/19/11 Philway Products Fire
• 1/20/11 Philway Products Fire - morning
• Officials probe cause of factory fire: Firefighters keep blaze from stored chemicals
• Philway Products workers in limbo after fire destroys factory
• Ashland factory, Philway Products, destroyed in Wednesday fire
• Ashland factory fire: No evidence of criminal intent
• PICTURES: Ashland Plant Fire