Fire companies from the central part of the state converged on Southington Saturday afternoon to battle a blaze at the historic Rex Forge steel plant on Atwater Street.
In addition to the Southington fire department, fire fighters from Cheshire, Plainville, New Britain and Bristol were sending crews to the fire.
Rex Forge is a 167-year old plant now involved in the manufacture of hot metal forgings. It has been damaged by fire before in 2002, 2012 and 2018 - on one occasion when oil used in the manufacturing process ignited.
It was founded as the Atwater Manufacturing Company to make products from weapons to shoes for oxen, using hammers driven by pulleys and belts powered by the adjacent Quinnipiac River.