Posted on 11/21/2025 9:15:26 AM PST by DFG
Another major fire tore through a massive metal-making plant in upstate New York — and it could cost automaker Ford billions.
On Thursday, Novelis, the world's largest recycler of aluminum and a major supplier to American automakers, said its 1.5-million-square-foot Oswego facility went up in flames.
Firefighters were called just before 9am after heavy smoke and flames erupted in the plant's hot-rolling area, where heated slabs are pressed into long sheets destined for automakers.
More than 80 firefighters from 20 departments battled the five-alarm blaze for nearly nine hours, using tanker trucks and multiple ladder trucks to douse the roof.
All 1,100 workers on site were safely evacuated, according to local officials.
'We're aware of the situation and working with Novelis to learn more,' a Ford spokesperson said on Friday morning.
The fire marks the second significant blaze at the plant since September and yet another blow to Ford's already-hobbled truck production.
The plant is central to Ford's most profitable car — and America's best-selling vehicle — the F-150.
A decade ago, Ford bet big on lighter, more fuel-efficient body panels for its pickup — and Novelis became its key partner in producing them.
Novelis was the main supplier of that lightweight aluminum.
When the part of the plant that heats and shapes metal caught fire in September, it choked off the supply of those sheets and forced Ford to slow F-150 output.
At the time, Ford estimated the disruption would cost between $1billion and $2billion.
The September outage had already forced temporary shutdowns at auto plants in Tennessee and Michigan.
In October, Novelis told the Daily Mail it expected the plant would be operational by December, beating some analyst forecasts that said it would take until March 2026.
But Thursday's fire throws that optimistic timeline into doubt.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
1.5-million-square-foot Oswego facility = 34 acres ...
catastrophic fire in 34 acre plant twice in 3 months?
DEI? Gen Z? Sabotage? Bad management?
The Catnip clause...
FIRE.
Maybe they want to move out of a blue state and want insurance to pay for the move.
Maybe they want to move out of a blue state and want insurance to pay for the move.”
Maybe.
So, they (communists,vantifa, islam) have added car production-support facilities to the long list of targets...
“Just In Time Delivery” is what is causing these issues. JITD was all the rage and many companies do it now and it saves them billions to hear them say.
But one disruption like this is all it takes to shut them down. COVID should have been a wakeup call.
Seems like this would’ve been worth reporting on by American news outlets.
“Ford to slow F-150”
Aluminum?
EV version?
Meltdown Fire!
Have recently heard the Ford is eliminating the EV version.
Make sense?
Seems odd an aluminum processing plant would burn like that.
Don’t we have other aluminum plants in this country?
How do you so royally screw up a facility that bad? Who designed and maintained this grenade? Even magnesium facilities don’t burn like this.
Forget local code...this is all on the ceo.
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