VERO BEACH — A Piper Aircraft building was evacuated after a paint shaker machine malfunctioned and exploded in flames Friday afternoon, fire rescue crews and police said.
PHOTO BY NICK SAMUEL
No serious injuries were reported in the incident, Indian River County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Kyle Kofke said. Vero Beach police sent out a tweet notifying motorists to avoid 27th Avenue and Aviation Boulevard.
The employee working the equipment suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene, Vero Beach police spokesman Officer Darrell Rivers said. After the evacuation, all employees at Piper Aircraft were sent home, Rivers said.
Piper Aircraft, an aviation company, is located at 2926 Piper Drive, near the Vero Beach Regional Airport.
Firefighters and police responded to the incident about 3 p.m. Friday at building number three at Piper Aircraft, Kofke said. The flames erupted in a paint booth used for the aircrafts, Kofke said.
Police saw heavy smoke coming from the building, Rivers said.
Responding to #fire at @piperaircraft avoid the area of 27th Ave @ Aviation Blvd!
— Vero Beach Police (@VeroBeachPD) July 26, 2019
Piper’s Vice President of Operations James Funk pressed the fire alarm and started evacuating employees from the building before firefighters arrived, officials said. The sprinkler system activated and contained the flames before fire crews got on scene soon after and extinguished the blaze, officials said.
Fire crews were working to ventilate the building. The state fire marshal will investigate the cause of the blaze.
