Just after Christmas Hi-Point, the well known budget firearms manufacturer, suffered a fire at their factory in Mansfield, Ohio. The budget pistol and pistol calibre carbine makers have not made any comment on the fire but local news report that it caused thousands of dollars of damage.

The Mansfield News Journal, reported that a fire broke out at the factory around midnight on Friday 28th December, and that fire crews responded putting out a fire in the middle section of the factory. The blaze is reported to have caused between $40,000 to $50,000 worth of damage to the factory building. No staff were inside the factory when the fire began and no injuries were reported by responders.

A photo from the 2016 fire at Hi-Point’s Ohio factory (Mansfield News Journal/Lou Whitmire)

Madison Township fire chief Ron Luttrell reported that the fire took over 30 minutes to bring under control and required the assistance of fire crews from three surrounding fire departments. While the cause of the fire is currently unknown Luttrell said the blaze was being investigated by the Ohio state fire marshal to ascertain the causes.

It’s unclear how production of Hi-Points range of budget pistols and pistol calibre carbines will be impacted by the fire. The Mansfield New Journal reported that chief Luttrell believed the fire would be covered by the company’s insurance. Hi-Point’s Mansfield factory suffered another fire back in September 2016 when fire crews responded to a fire in the factory’s office which reportedly left much of the building smoke damaged.

Hi-Point have not yet released any statement on the fire via their website or social media, though they did post to wish followers a happy new year and tease their appearance at SHOT Show 2019 later this month. We approached them for comment on the fire and the damage it may have caused and Charles Brown, President of MKS Supply, the exclusive marketer for Hi-Point, responded to say that:

there was a fire in the machine shop area near a overhead gas heater – fortunately it was small and contained, there was some damage to 2 small fringing type machines and to the wall/ceiling – along with some smoke and water damage I am happy to say that the fire was contained in about 30 min and in 2 days we had everything back up and running. Scary and could have been much worse – we are very blessed and fortunate.

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