Emergency officials in Bradley County, Tennessee, responded for a second time in four days to an incident at an industrial plant on Innovation Drive in the Spring Brook Industrial Park just east of Interstate 75.
Cleveland, Tennessee, firefighters and police answered a fire call Saturday at Amaero Advanced Materials & Manufacturing, along with the Bradley County Emergency Management and the Bradley County Emergency Medical Service, Cleveland police spokesperson Capt. Evie West said by text. No injuries were reported.
“Fire companies extinguished a small fire that was difficult to access while taking steps to protect the product during the operation,” West said. “There was no known danger to the public. This incident does not appear to be related to the incident that happened earlier in the week.”
(READ MORE: Cleveland, Tennessee, explosion investigated. Victims identified)
Saturday’s incident happened less than a week after two people were seriously injured May 13 in a reported explosion at Amaero in an incident involving a lithium battery, authorities said.
A Cleveland police report identified the two men who sustained burns in the May 13 explosion as Ocoee resident Matthew B. Eaker, 42, and Cleveland resident Juan J. Soto, 61. The report said Eaker was transported by Erlanger Health’s Life Force helicopter to an unnamed hospital in Georgia, and Soto was taken to Erlanger hospital by a Bradley County ambulance.
Since the company and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration are conducting the follow-up investigation, West said police have received no updates on Eaker’s or Soto’s conditions. There was also no information regarding which burn center was treating Eaker.
Employers are required by law to report inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye if a related hospital admission occurs within 24 hours of the workplace incident, but the state agency typically does not investigate workplace incidents involving no injuries, according to agency information online. In an email, agency spokesperson Chris Cannon said case files will become available to the public once the probe is concluded, which can take up to 180 days.
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Amaero, a manufacturer of metals and alloys, operates a 130,000-square-foot, $54.9 million manufacturing and research facility opened in 2023 near Exit 20 on Interstate 75. The facility serves as Amaero’s hub for its titanium alloy powder production, advanced manufacturing and research and development.
Melissa Denton, the Amaero plant’s chief administrative officer, declined to comment on the explosion when reached by phone Thursday. Denton didn’t respond to a voice message left Monday at her number seeking comment on the fire.
Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.