A worker at Nakanishi Manufacturing on Voyles Road in Winterville sustained burns over nearly 80 percent of his body when a fire broke out Wednesday evening in the ductwork he was cleaning, according to Athens-Clarke County Fire Battalion Chief Wesley Bennett.
The injured worker, whose name was not immediately available, was airlifted to an area hospital, Bennett said, but he was alert and talking with the county rescue crew before he was flown off-site for treatment. There were no other injuries in the blaze, Bennett said. Plant officials had evacuated the building prior to the arrival of fire crews, Bennett added.
The blaze spread through part of the plant’s vent system and onto the roof, and was extinguished by responding fire crews from Athens-Clarke County and Winterville within 15 to 20 minutes, according to Bennett.
While the ventilation system does evacuate dust generated in the plant’s manufacturing process — Nakanishi makes bearings at the Voyles Road plant — there were no toxic chemicals released in connection with Wednesday’s fire, according to Bennett.
Japan-based Nakanishi has operated the Voyles Road plant in Athens since 1988. According to the company’s website, the Winterville facility was the first overseas operation to be established by the company’s bearings division. As of 2013, the company employed 140 people at the Winterville facility.