City awaits demolition plans for vacant Springfield factory plagued by fires

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

The owners of the Cooper Energy Services property told the Springfield Fire Division days after a massive fire erupted at the site that they plan to demolish the complex, according to documents obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.

The property’s owner, Mosier Industrial, told a fire department official by phone on Sept. 3 they had plans to demolish the complex, which is located at 1401 Sheridan Ave., according to public records. However the city of Springfield said they had not received any demolition plans for the property nearly a month later.

The Springfield News-Sun reached out to Mosier Industrial about the future of the Cooper Energy property multiple times for this story and did not receive a response.

Mosier, a company based in Crestline, Ohio, also owns the Crowell-Collier complex in downtown Springfield. Mosier is in the process of demolishing the remaining structures on the property.

MORE: Plans unclear for Crowell-Collier site in Springfield after demolition

“Mr. Mosier stated that this demolition (demolition of Cooper Energy Services) would be done concurrently with the Crowell-Collier demolition,” Smith’s notes from his phone conversation with Mosier said.

In public records from Springfield Fire Division, Springfield Fire Division Assistant Fire Chief Matt Smith called Rod Mosier, owner of Mosier Industrial, in early September to discuss the safety of the Cooper Energy Services property after the complex caught fire and burned for hours on Aug. 31 .

“I talked with Rod Mosier today, to discuss the multiple fires at this building,” Smith’s notes from a phone conversation with Mosier on Sept. 3 said. “Mr. Mosier stated that his timeline to start the demolition would be 2-3 weeks from today [Sept. 3], and that he would be pulling the necessary permits in the next week.”

As of Sept. 26, Mosier had not filed a demolition permit with the city of Springfield for 1401 Sheridan Ave., according to Steve Thompson, planning, zoning and code administrator for the city of Springfield.

History

Cooper Energy Services closed its doors in 2001. The business closed after the property’s owner, Cameron International, a Houston-based company that manufactured oil and gas compression equipment and engines, discontinued manufacturing the engines that were built in Springfield as part of an ongoing reduction within the company, according to the Houston Business Journal.

At the time, the 580,000-square-foot plant employed more than 300 people.

The property sat vacant until 2011, when Mosier purchased it for $1.5 million, according to public documents.

In 2012, the city of Springfield sent Mosier a cease and desist letter asking the company to stop using the site as a salvage yard, which had crushed cars, “clearly visible on the property,” without a license, according to previous reporting by the Springfield News-Sun.

The City of Springfield’s law director at the time said Mosier quickly complied with the cease and deist, removing all the crushed cars from the property, according to previous reporting by the Springfield News-Sun.

A year later in April 2013, Mosier filed an application for the Cooper Energy property to become a salvage yard. The application stated the company believed the site would be a successful location for the business.

City of Springfield Planning Board rejected the request with an 8-0 vote a month later. The property has remained vacant since.

A large fire broke out at the Cooper Energy property on Friday, Aug. 31, and burned for a few hours before anyone noticed it, Smith said, and firefighters had to fight the blaze from the outside because the roof collapsed.

MORE: Old factory under ‘unsafe structure policy’ prior to fires

The next day, the fire rekindled, and light smoke was seen coming from the building. Smith said there was still a little bit of fire underneath the collapsed material so crews on scene put the fire out as it flared back up.

Smith said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

“What we look for is a heat source and a fuel package coming together. The fuel is easy, the building is full of and made of combustible stuff, the harder thing is finding what the heat source is,” Smith said. “Other fires, we can trace it to smoking materials, electrical problems or other things that people do that creates heat. At this time, we have not found something that could be the competent heat source, but the investigation continues.”

More on the future of Crowell-Collier: Plans unclear for Crowell-Collier site in Springfield after demolition

Unsafe structure policy

Both the Cooper Energy property and the Crowell-Collier property are on the fire department’s, “unsafe structure policy,” which means the department does not make entry into the building unless it is verified someone is inside, according to documents obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.

According to fire division inspection documents from January 2003, the Cooper Energy property is, “considered to be extremely hazardous to personnel.”

According to the document, reasons why the property is considered hazardous include; no sprinkler system, heavy fire load, contents scattered about inside the building, large spaces inside that can lead to disorientation and that the building is unsecured.

The property was inspected again on Sept. 4, after the fires, and was given a inspection status of, “fail.”

“The fence gates surrounding the complex are open, many doors into buildings are open, missing, or broken and many windows are broken,” the inspection report said. “While the stored materials have once been removed, inside the buildings is a large amount of combustible waste, spread throughout the complex.”

Local: Springfield makes changes to proposed vacant property registry

Security

Neighbors near the Cooper Energy complex have expressed concerns about the lack of security surrounding the property.

Paul Patton, who lives near the property, said after the fires that the complex is dangerous, especially for the little kids in the neighborhood.

“A lot of little kids live around here. They can go back in there easy. Little holes you can just go squeeze through and go get hurt,” Patton said.

Shortly after Smith called Mosier on Sept. 3, to discuss the security of the Cooper Energy property, the fire division received word from the Springfield Police Division that someone who lived on Sheridan Avenue called the division, “stating all gates at Cooper Industries were open and unsecured,” according to the documents obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.

Smith then called Mosier again on Sept, 3 to discuss the security of the buildings. No one answered and the call went to voicemail, according to notes from Smith.

Three days later, Smith again called Mosier about, “gates still unlocked and unsecured,” the call again went to voicemail. On Sept. 12, Smith drove by 1401 Sheriden to find the gates were locked with no gaps in the fencing, according to the documents.


1401 Sheridan Avenue timeline:

2001: Cooper Energy Services closes its doors for good, laying off more than 300 employees.

Jan. 2003: The Springfield Fire Division inspects the property and finds it is "considered to be extremely hazardous to personnel"

2011: Mosier Industrial Services purchases the property for $1.5 million

March 2012: The City of Springfield sends Mosier a cease and desist letter, asking the company to stop using the site as a salvage yard without a license

April 2013: Mosier files an application with the City of Springfield to rezone the property as a salvage yard

May 2013: The City of Springfield Planning Board rejects this request by a vote of 8-0

Aug. 31, 2019: A large fire breaks out at the property and burns for a few hours before anyone notices it. Firefighters have to fight to blaze from the outside because the roof collapses

Sept. 1, 2019: The fire rekindles with light smoke

Sept. 3, 2019: Springfield Assistant Fire Chief Matt Smith calls Rod Mosier, owner of Mosier Industrial, to discuss the safety of the property. Mosier tells Smith he has a plans to demolish the property

Sept. 3, 2019: The Springfield Police Division calls the fire division and tells them someone who lives on Sheridan Avenue called to say all of the gates to the Cooper Energy property were open and unsecured. Smith calls Mosier to discuss this, Mosier does not answer the phone.

Sept. 6, 2019: Smith calls Mosier again, as gates are still open and unsecured. Mosier does not answer.

Sept. 12, 2019: Smith drives by the Cooper Energy property to find the gates locked.

The Springfield News-Sun is committed to covering community safety concerns in Clark and Champaign county.

$1.5 million: Price Mosier Industrial paid for the Cooper Energy Services property when they purchased it in 2011

580,000: Square-footage of the Cooper Energy Services property in 2001

18: Years the property has sat vacant

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