The Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch is replacing hardware components on two Mitsubishi Heavy Industries presses as operations continue to recover from a disastrous June fire that destroyed the paper’s third press.

ABB, which originally installed controls on the presses in 2004, is performing the work.

“This is ongoing support and part of our relationship with the paper,” said Jeff Gelfand, ABB’s national sales and marketing director.

No injuries

The blaze, on June 23, destroyed the Times-Dispatch’s B pressline. It took more than two hours for firefighters to douse the blaze as they poured more than 60,000 gallons of water on the burning machine. Media General, which owns the Times-Dispatch, in late December said it reached a $48 million settlement with its insurance company covering the damage. No one was injured in the blaze.



The June fire at the Richmond Times Dispatch destroyed a 10-unit press.
 

Although the fire didn’t reach the Times-Dispatch’s other two MHI presses, smoke and water damage did occur to some of the components, compelling the paper to swap out PLCs, I/Os and other systems for new ones, Gelfand said.

“Thanks to efforts of ABB, (disaster recovery company) Belfor, Masthead International and our dedicated employees, we have not missed a day of publication and we remain in remediation,” a Media General spokesman said.

ABB expects to finish up the project this summer. ABB crews are also working on upgrading controls at the Times-Dispatch’s sister paper, the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal. The Journal project includes new unit controls, press controls and control consoles.