Hazmat Crews Clean Up After Rowlett Fire
The fire department said the fire started at Gleco Plating
By Diana Zoga
September 23, 2018
Rowlett, Texas
There was heavy smoke in the sky as firefighters battled a business fire in Rowlett Sunday afternoon. The call came into the fire department at 4:50 p.m. Sunday as a building in an industrial area on Grisham Drive burned.
The fire department said the fire started at Gleco Plating.
No one was hurt, but hazmat crews will be on scene much of the night to make sure chemicals released in the fire don't leak into the water.
"As the sprinkler system activated, we had to use a lot of water to put the fire out," said Rowlett Fire Chief Neil Howard. "We still have a lot of runoff and we are working very diligently at containing it and keeping it out of the water system."
The department said it may be a few days before investigators know what caused the fire.
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Providing metal finishing for over 35 years Gleco Plating, Inc. was founded by Glen Gurley and his wife Jean in July 1979 in Garland, Texas.
Mr. Gurley had been involved in the metal finishing industry for many years in several capacities for other plating shops. It wasn’t until his abrupt departure from one of these companies, and constant encouragement from former associates and customers that he decided to go into business for himself. Hence, the formation of Gleco Plating, Inc.
Gleco started in a small, 1500 square foot facility with a handful of employees to what it is today: 75,000+ square feet contained within 2 facilities located in Rowlett, Texas and McAllen, Texas with over 115+ employees.
After Mr. Gurley’s death in 2002, ownership passed onto his son-in-law, Jeff Fodge, and daughter Glenda Fodge. Since then, their son, Matt Fodge, has become a 3rd generation principal in the company and oversees much of the day-to-day operations.
The business was founded on the premise that all customers, large or small, deserve the best quality, turnaround, and overall service that Gleco could possibly provide. We still hold to those values today.