Fire at OEM wheel supplier Dicastal in Michigan leaves one injured

There's more hot news for the supply chain, although not the kind anyone's happy about. The Detroit Free Press reports fire struck the factory of Tier 1 automotive OEM supplier Dicastal North America in Greenville, Michigan around 9:45 Friday evening. Discastal North America's web site says it makes "lightweight aluminum alloy wheels" and its client list includes Fiat Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota. The cause of Friday evening's fire remains under investigation, emergency personnel saying it appears to have occurred around the blast furnace room where molten aluminum and magnesium are prepared for the wheelmaking process. Whatever caused the burn possessed enough force to blow out the back side of the northeast corner of the building, creating debris piles outside made up of material that had been inside the plant. Residents miles away claimed to have felt their homes shake from the initial boom.

The North American arm is a subsidiary of Chinese firm CITIC Dicastal Co. The Chinese head office calls itself the "world's largest supplier of aluminum alloy wheels." Automotive News ranked the company 58th out of the top 100 global auto suppliers in 2020 based on sales.

One employee was injured in the blast, the man taken to an area hospital for severe burns. All workers have been accounted for. Emergency crews said they had the burn under control in four hours and were finished in six.