Fire Damages UPCO Building In Verdigris

Firefighters from several Rogers County fire departments were called out to a fire in an industrial building west of Claremore early Tuesday.

The Verdigris Fire Department says the fire at the UPCO company just off Highway 66 in Verdigris was first reported at 3:20 a.m.

Verdigris Fire Chief Mike Shaffer says when firefighters arrived they found the office area on fire. He said they learned some flammable liquids had also caught fire so Shaffer called for assistance from the Catoosa, Claremore and Rolling Hills.

Shaffer says no UPCO employees were in the building at the time of the fire and there are no reports of any injuries.

Officials say UPCO manufactures sucker rods for the oilfield industry. Sucker rods are steel rods, usually 25 to 30 feet long, that are threaded at both ends. They're used to connect pump jack machinery to the pump at the bottom of an oil well. 

UPCO officials have not commented about the fire.

Shaffer says it appears the machinery used to make those rods was not damaged by the fire.  He says they haven't found a cause of the fire yet.