A report of smoke at the Percival Scientific factory at 505 Research Dr. in Perry brought the Perry Volunteer Fire Department to the scene about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Employees of the 125-year-old light manufacturing company were evacuated from the 60,000-square-foot facility while the source of the smoke was investigated.
“We went through the building and checked every possible source of the fire and found nothing,” Perry Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chris Hinds said. “We then went back and got our thermal imaging camera and went through and completely checked the building, and there’s no hot spots or anything in there.”
Hinds noted the building’s furnace was powered up this morning for the first time this year, and the accumulated dust on the unit’s heat exchanger might have produced some smoke, but “this is purely speculation on our part,” he said.
Percival Scientific spokesperson Jesse Smith was not immediately available for comment.
Percival Scientific manufactures plant growth chambers, biological incubators and research chambers for universities, government institutions and corporations worldwide.
ThePerryNews.com will update this story as information becomes available.
