Soot to spotless: Walton library reopens after furnace fire prompts extensive cleaning

April 18--WALTON -- Three weeks ago, the inside of the Walton-Tipton Township Library was covered in soot.

It was all over the books, shelves, walls and floor. It was on paintings, computers and framed photographs.

Today, you'd never know a furnace fire shot the black dust through the facility's ducts, out its vents and all over everything.

The library reopens today after a team came in and cleaned every inch of the building. One by one, they cleaned every single book through a multi-step process. They used vacuums with special filters to clean the floors. They even cleaned the air inside the building.

Karen Troutman, library director, was on vacation in Tennessee when the furnace fire broke out after operating hours on Monday night, March 26. She said a library employee's husband drove by and saw the fire alarms going off before alerting the fire department.

"If it weren't for Michael Barker, we could have lost the whole library so we

were very fortunate," Troutman said.

The layer of grime throughout the building forced the library to close and cancel events or move them to other venues.

Troutman said insurance covered the cleanup, which started with hiring Servpro's Lafayette outfit. The company also resolved water damage the library sustained last year.

Eric Gill is a large loss project manager with Servpro's outfit in Kankakee, Illinois, which assisted on the project.

"Every single book had to be pulled off the shelf and cleaned," he said as workers finished up the job on April 13. "Every square inch of this building has been cleaned."

Cleaners had to hold books tightly when taking them off the shelves to prevent soot from seeping between the pages, he said. They vacuumed each volume with backpack units before wiping them down with a dense rubber sponge called a chem sponge, and then another cloth.

Greg Thomas, owner and operations manager of Servpro in Lafayette, said workers sealed each shelf with plastic after all of its books were cleaned to keep them spotless while tackling the rest of the area.

Eric said workers cleaned every piece of glass, every rack holding a book and every irreplaceable item representing the town's history in the library's Indiana Room.

Several ozone machines ran overnight in the library, he said. His wife and colleague, Traci Gill, said the machines attack odor particles.

An air scrubber hummed on the library's second floor the morning of April 13. The box-shaped contraption has five filters in it, one of which is a high-energy particulate air, or HEPA, filter. Eric said they catch 99.9 percent of bad stuff in the air. At one point, 15 of them ran regularly throughout the library.

Servpro's vacuums are also equipped with HEPA filters, Eric said.

As the project progressed, Eric kept track of it all by marking a map of the building.

About 18 Servpro employees worked 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday April 2 through 12 and finished at around noon on April 13.

The library has five heating systems, Eric explained. After the one caught fire, the others picked up its soot and spread it throughout all of the duct work.

Eric said all of the flexible ducts had to be replaced and another company cleaned the rest of the duct work. That firm covered all of the building's vents before sucking all of the soot out with a negative air machine.

Erin Alford, Walton, said she and her 5- and 10-year-old daughters are looking forward to the library opening back up again. They were on vacation when the fire broke out and when they returned, Alford said her girls grew "very concerned" to find all of the Servpro vehicles parked outside the library.

Alford said they visit the library regularly and attend its story time sessions. She added her daughters participate in the library's reading programs over summers and Christmas breaks.

If You Go

WHAT: Walton-Tipton Township Public Library

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays

WHERE: 110 N. Main St., Walton

The girls are looking forward to the library opening back up again.

"It's been a daily question -- 'Can we go to the library?'" Alford said.

Micah Bruner, Walton, grew up going to the library and now she goes with her 3- and 4-year-old every week. Lately, she said her youngest asks if the library's open yet every time they drive past.

Bruner, a former elementary school teacher, said she admires the library for the selection of books, movies, video games, magazines and newspapers it offers.

The library's space is another asset, she continued, noting it hosts activities and can be rented out for events.

"It's definitely a place my family loves going to visit," Bruner said.

Troutman said she's very thankful for the firefighters who responded to the furnace fire and patrons for their patience and offers to help.

The Walton-Tipton Township Public Library is open 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

Reach Mitchell Kirk at [email protected] or 574-732-5130

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