WESTFIELD—A fire Thursday night left a business with significant damage, according to the Westfield Fire Department.
The fire occurred around 11:25 p.m. Thursday at 66 South Broad St., according to Westfield Fire Deputy Chief Eric Bishop. The business, JC Danczak, Inc., a company that specializes in packaging and manufacturing, as well as re-purposing and recycling wax for items like fire starters, sustained significant damage from the fire. However, no injuries were reported and the building itself was saved, according to Bishop.
Ash and small cups, some of which were filled with wax, located at the scene post-fire at 66 Broad St. Friday morning.
“The Westfield Fire Department, in conjunction with a functioning sprinkler system, saved the building,” Bishop said.
Bishop said that the department was aware while responding to the scene that there were possible combustible fuels on site and in instances like that, he said firefighters take extra precautions.
This information was available due in part to previous visits to the location by the department, as part of their attempt to have annual visits to businesses in the city, according to Bishop. This information is also in computer systems within fire apparatuses.
According to business owner Robert Danczak, the business may stop producing fire starters following the fire, which are created with the recycled wax.
The location of the fire that occurred Thursday night at 66 South Broad St.
“My impact is I don’t think we will make fire starters anymore,” he said.
“The only issues I ever had was with the wax business,” Danczak added.
He said that he first started his business in 1988 before incorporating in 1991.
A previous fire occurred at the location, Danczak noted, which he said occurred in 2011. That fire, according to Danczak, had a principle cause related to melting wax at the time with gasoline. They have since moved to electrical means to perform wax melting.
According to Danczak, about a quarter of their business comes from fire starters, and he will instead focus exclusively on distributing. Other uses for the recycled wax, Danczak said, include weatherproofing wooden cages for beehives, to purge extruding machines and for crafts.
As of Friday around 3 p.m., the Westfield Fire Department, Westfield Police Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office were involved in a joint investigation of the fire, with no cause yet determined, according to State Fire Marshal spokesperson Jennifer Mieth.
However, Mieth reported that damages are estimated at about $150,000.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
