After watching in horror as his plant burned to the ground on Christmas Eve, 2024, Mario Stagliano, a partner at Arway Linen Rental Service, Philadelphia, says that as things turned out, his company has hardly missed a beat. They’re continuing to serve food and beverage (F&B) customers out of a plant in Blackwood, NJ, owned by RMK Operations Ltd., a healthcare/hospitality operator based in Amityville, NY.

“We didn’t lose one customer,” said Stagliano during a recent Teams call with Textile Services Weekly. His upbeat assessment – belied by his stern countenance during the call – reflects the fact that Arway has continued processing roughly 250,000 lbs. (113,398 kg.) a week using a RMK’s Blackwood facility. No one was injured in the blaze, but it destroyed Arway’s 40,000-square-foot (3,716-square-meter) building in north Philadelphia. Arway had operated on that site for 40 years. “We’re working through it,” said Stagliano, who took a break from meeting with lenders to speak with us on Jan. 14. “We’re getting our customers served,” he said, noting that Arway had to buy roughly two par (i.e., two day’s allotment) of textiles to meet customer demand. The company’s inventory of stored textiles was lost in the fire. “We’re buying new product in conjunction with processing,” he said, noting that Pinnacle Textile has made a superb effort to aid in the company’s comeback.

Meanwhile, the fire that started around 9 p.m. on Dec. 24, 2024, remains under investigation. However, local fire department officials have pinpointed a cause: spontaneous combustion in a cart loaded with clean mop heads. Staff at the plant at 1696 Foulkrod St. had removed the goods from the dryer earlier that day, Stagliano says. A video of the plant was recovered, but fire officials have yet to release it to the company. When they do, it will help pinpoint the precise cause of the fire.

A crucial factor in the incident is the fact that once the fire started, an overhead sprinkler failed to deploy, Stagliano said. Ironically, within weeks of the fire, inspectors had certified that the sprinkler system – which was deployed throughout the production floor – as fully operational, he said. “The system was certified on December 4th and no deficiencies were listed. I don’t know what goes into those tests. I assume that there should be something in there that would determine whether or not there’s deficiencies, but I’m not an expert. So anyhow, we’re working through the insurance and all that stuff.”

In any event, Arway was fortunate to settle quickly on a backup plant to keep operating after the fire. “You know, luckily when this happens, there is a laundry friend of ours about a half an hour away and he had excess capacity in his operating plant.” Stagliano contacted RMK’s COO Joseph Samuel and VP Matt Connell on Christmas day, and although the two men didn’t know each other before, the deal for the Blackwood plant was quickly consummated.

Now Arway not only has a plant to process its goods, but it has room to expand, Stagliano said. That’s a welcome change from the Philadelphia plant that had long since reached its maximum capacity, he said. In addition, over several years Arway has discussed consolidations with several smaller operators. He believes that if those deals now come to fruition, the Blackwood plant could accommodate another 100,000 lbs. (45,339 kg.) of work with its two tunnel washers, eight dryers and six ironer lines.

There’s more good news for Arway in that in July 2023 the company announced plans to relocate to a new 90,000-square-foot (8,361-square-meter) facility in the Port Richmond area of Philadelphia, a short distance from the original site. In August 2024, Arway announced a $16 million agreement with Ecosave, a Philadelphia-based TRSA supplier partner, to finance all the equipment that Away needs to run the new plant, in exchange for a share of the savings on water and energy expected from the installation of equipment, mainly from JENSEN USA. Click here for details.

Stagliano commended his company’s insurance broker, McGriff Insurance Services LLC, for their expertise and work both before and after the fire. Stories like these are often made even worse when businesses discover – too late – that their property, equipment, inventory and income were underinsured. This was not the case for Arway, he said.

The claims experience with McGriff gave Stagliano added peace of mind, he said. “They were in touch with me on Christmas Day, walking me through the claims process for our total loss and letting me know how everything would unfold, including the money we needed to keep serving our customers,” he said. “This is a conversation you never want to have, but if you ever do, you want it to go exactly like the one I had with my risk and insurance team at McGriff.”
In the month since the fire, an inspector and claim consultant from McGriff has been on site at the plant and in constant communication to answer any questions, he added.

Stagliano says he regrets the loss of jobs at the Philadelphia site, but the agreement with RMK requires Arway to use RMK employees to run the plant in Blackwood, he said. “People are out of work right now because of the fire,” he says. “Our heart goes out to them.”

The fire itself also is seared into Stagliano’s memory. “Standing there on Christmas Eve, watching this place burn … knowing that you’ll never walk into it again. It was a pretty surreal moment.”

See the links below for information on fire prevention.

Fire Safety And Prevention— Protect Your Plant With Proactive Planning – Textile Rental Services Association

Enhancing Fire Safety in Commercial Laundries | TRSA

Spontaneous Heating How to Prevent Fires in Linen – Textile Rental Services Association

Incident Prevention Tools For Risk Management – Textile Rental Services Association

Plant Fires: Reduce Risks with Training, Maintenance – Textile Rental Services Association

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