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American Aerospace catches fire: when American Aerospace Technical Castings saw its past go up in smoke, a spark of hope kept it looking toward the future.

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A flex hose vibrated unseen between the roof and the drop down ceiling at American Aerospace Technical Castings (AATC), Phoenix, Ariz. The hose. which was acting as a conduit between the power box and the air conditioning, slowly built up heat as it gyrated in an area of the company's 70-year-old building that didn't fall under the day-to-day watchful eye of the maintenance team. Beneath it. in one of the more critical areas in an investment casting house, the wax room, employees continued to pump out patterns, undisturbed and unaware of the fire hazard above them.

The hose continued to writhe back and forth in a tight motion throughout the dog days of summer 2007. On Aug. 10, it created a spark. The spark grew into flames. The flames grew into a structure fire, swelling within the 18,000-sq.-ft, space AATC called home.

"The fire had nothing to do with the [investment casting] process," said Patti Bredengerd, the company's president. "It was just the age of the building."

The cause, of course, wasn't nearly as relevant as the effect. In the aftermath of the blaze. AATC discovered it had severe damage in its wax room and beyond. The company was at a crossroads. Would it refurbish the old space, performing the necessary maintenance to restore production and ensure that future fires would not occur? Would it move on to another building? Or would it sire ply close its doors?

Had the fire occurred a year or two earlier, the answer would have been clear. The company, which serves military and commercial aerospace customers, as well as miscellaneous commercial industries, hit hard times in 2005-2006, and its future was uncertain. A good old fashioned structure fire may have simply put it out of its misery.

But immediately prior to the fire, the organization had seen an up-tick in profits for the first time in several years. Because the management team was able to point to that after the fire, the company's owner and board members agreed AATC should move forward and purchase a new space in which to do business. Today, after several months and $3.5 million, AATC...

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