MALVERN – Tuesday, September 22, a fire ripped through the American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) Metal forming plant in Malvern, formerly known as Colfor.

The plant, a staple of the Malvern community (population 1,125), employs 276 associates.

Great Trail Fire Department chief Ralph Castellucci says his department was toned out just after 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Castellucci said dispatch stated a hydraulic press exploded, sending hydraulic oil flying, ultimately igniting a fire.

“The press was on fire and we responded to that,” he said. “All of the hydraulic oil started burning rapidly and burned across the building…when we got here multiple presses had caught on fire.”

As the fire spread, it reached the top of the building, shooting flames from the rooftops.

“Those presses go clear to the ceiling and they all have high pressure hydraulic oil in them,” said Castellucci.

The factory, a long-standing fixture in Malvern, will leave a lasting impact on employees.

“It’s going to have an effect. As soon as we got here, we started doing operations to save as much as we could,” he said. “Getting all of those departments here was important. That impact is on our mind and that’s why we plan for this. This is a plan for the worst case right here.”

Castellucci says despite the heavy fire damage to the center of the building, the east and west ends were contained off and received less damage.

Chief Castellucci said between 15-18 departments from Carroll, Stark, Mahoning and Columbiana counties responded to the scene.

No injuries were reported employees and first responded.

“As of right now, everyone is safe,” he said as he answered a question about injuries. “We have been fighting this from the outside and we’re about to move inside.”

Don Artzner, a long-time employee at AAM, was preparing for his day shift to begin when the fire erupted.

“It’s a second home to me,” he said, choked up, as he was ready to celebrate 47 years at the plant on Sept. 24.

“At first I had seen a couple cop cars and didn’t know what was going on,” Artzner said. “I just happened to glance up a little bit and I saw an orange glow. I said, ‘this is not going to be good.’”

This is the second time in 2020, AAM employees will be out of work at no fault of their own, first because of COVID-19 and now because of the devasting fire at the facility.

“It’s going to hurt, not only my family, but there’s a lot of people that work here. A lot of manufacturing places are going to be hurting,” Artzner said.

Set to retire in March of 2021 after 47 years of work at the plant, he says calling his family was the hardest part.

“I had mixed emotions. Like I said, this place is like a second home to me,” Artzner noted. “I’ve been coming here quite a few years. I was just out of high school. I graduated and then I got the job.”

He’s happy everyone made it out of the building.

“I’m just glad everyone got out safe,” he said. “We’ll move on, hopefully.”

AAM released the following statement regarding the fire:

“In the early morning of Sept. 22, AAM's Malvern Manufacturing Facility experienced a significant fire. The building was evacuated, and no injuries were reported. Local fire departments responded to the scene to contain the fire. AAM is working with local authorities to investigate this accident and will assess the facility once the investigation is complete. Because of the ongoing investigation, we have no further comment.”

Andrea Knapp, media relations leader for AAM, told the Free Press Standard the facility employs 276 hourly and salary associates.