Equipment caught fire at the Suncast Corporation manufacturing facility in Batavia over the weekend. No workers or any attending firefighters were hurt during the blaze.

The Batavia Fire Department responded on Feb. 7 to 701 N. Kirk Road.

The building had been evacuated after the automatic sprinkler system was activated inside the room containing the fire. Several employees attempted to put out the fire using portable fire extinguishers prior to the evacuation, according to a release by the fire department.

Fire crews located part of the machinery equipment actively burning inside the powder coat booth area. The automatic sprinklers successfully contained the fire to the equipment involved, according to the release.

No smoke or odor exited the building. The fire crew was able to fully extinguish the fire in around 30 minutes. Employees were able to enter the building and return to operations following the incident, according to the release.

The fire department said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Cost estimates from the fire damage is not yet available.

A total of 32 fire personnel were on-scene.

Several local fire departments assisted at the scene, including the St. Charles Fire Department and the Geneva Fire Department.

Not source of region’s airborne chemical odor

Over the weekend, several regional towns, including the Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District, reported a chemical smell in the air.

Batavia Fire Department Deputy Chief John Lucas said the smell did not emanate from the fire in Batavia.

“I did not observe any such odor in the area during our response and do not believe it is related to this incident,” Lucas said.

Reports of the chemical smell also surfaced in Elgin, Lombard, Elmhurst, Schaumburg, Naperville, Wauconda, even Rockford and Urbana, according to the Daily Herald.