Construction began on Building 6 in 1956.

The area where the fire started was

constructed in 1967, and a sprinkler system was installed at that time based on the
manufacturing being conducted within the building.
The first indication of a problem was a water flow alarm which occurred at 06:49:07.
This should have instituted a response from GE security; however 2 Derby
employees in the building would see the fire and contact MetroSafe. GE security
officers would contact MetroSafe eight minutes later.
Weather played a role in the incident in several ways. The first responding
companies would be tied up on water rescues at other locations, and as a result, the
next closest units would respond with a slight delay. At the time of the fire Derby
employees were moving product because of water leaking from the roofs, the worse
conditions they have ever seen. Later in the incident, when the fire department
needed to go off property for water, flooding blocked or delayed their routes in two
locations.
Because it was Good Friday, there were a reduced number of employees in Building
6, instead of the several hundred who would have been present in the Derby and GE
areas. At the same time, General Electric had a single person manning the Boiler
House and Mill Water Plant which are located almost a mile apart.
Under normal conditions, when an alarm sounds, GE security notifies a patrol officer
who checks the location of the alarm. If there is a fire, the patrol officer contacts
the security dispatcher who contacts 911. There was a delay in this entire process
however some of the delay was offset by Derby employees directly contacting 911.
Again, under normal processes, once a fire had been discovered, the Mill Water
Plant operator would increase the number of pumps flowing water. A significant
delay would occur before the Mill Water Plant operator would drive from the Boiler
House to the Mill Water plant and make adjustments.
At the time of the incident there were a total of eight pumps that had to be
manually started, a system that was installed in the 1950s. Four pumps were down
for upgrades. Of the four remaining pumps, three would fail, leaving only one pump
working. It was also noted that when the operator arrived at the Mill Water plant, a
dump valve was dumping water into a tank instead of closing and allowing some
increase in the water pressure. Because of these factors, the water needed by
firefighters to extinguish the fire would not be available on property.
General Electric has 11-13 Louisville Water Company hydrants that they, GE, are
responsible for maintaining. This would have been an additional source of water for
firefighters, however the two closest to Building 6 were broken or out of service. A
tour of the property as well as observations made by an outside agency revealed
that most of the Louisville Water Company hydrants were out of service.

An important point of contention is if the 1967 sprinkler system worked as it was

designed. At the time of the fire, the use of the building had been switched to the
storage of plastics, which required a different more intense rack mounted sprinkler
system. General Electric and Derby have a contact in place that spells out the
responsibility to make the changes.
Thirteen Derby employees did not see any sprinklers at all when they first saw the
fire. Another Derby employee saw water flow but said it was not effective. As the
last of the Derby employees were exiting the building, two General Electric security
officers entered, one saw sprinklers above the fire, one was not sure. Others saw
sprinklers flowing on other systems in other areas of the building. Whatever was
flowing had very little pressure.
An additional indicator as to the performance of the sprinkler system was the
exterior wall mounted sprinkler gongs. While they were inspected and found in
good condition one year ago, none of them sounded which indicates water was not
flowing to the sprinklers.
During inspections of the sprinkler systems in 2013 and 2014, General Electric was
notified that the hazards were not adequately protected (2013) and in both years
that the system need to be reevaluated based on the use of the building.
Regarding the cause of the fire, careless smoking, Metal Halide light fixture failure
and an intentional set fire were discounted as causes of this incident.
While scientific data did not plot a lightning strike directly to Building 6, there were
several other strikes in Appliance Park. A very credible witness identified a location
of a strike, directly above where the fire started.
During the 24 hours prior to the fire there was a significant amount of rain on the
property, which necessitated Derby moving product because of leaks in the roof.
The possibility of rain leaking into electrical components, causing a short, cannot be
eliminated.
As a result, under the strict guidelines of NFPA 921, the cause will be undetermined.
The total loss for General Electric is greater than 50 million dollars and the loss for
Derby Industries is 50 to 60 million dollars.