Last evening, as most have now seen through ‘viral’ videos on social media, one of Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex’s ice resurfacing machines caught fire.
A hose carrying hydraulic fluid broke while the machine was in operation and the fluid (which can be seen on the ice surface) was ignited by a hot exhaust pipe, located underneath the driver’s seat. This is extremely rare and truly a fluke accident.
No one was injured during the incident, including our staff member that was dr...iving the machine. The name of the driver is Jordan Curtis—a long time staff member of the Iceplex.
“While multiple safety systems are in place throughout our entire facility to protect both staff and guests (in this instance, and most notably, fire suppression systems), the quick actions of our staff member single handedly prevented this incident from one worse than it was,” said Chris Woodworth, General Manager of the Iceplex. “With the safety of all in mind, and acting without hesitation, Jordan rushed the machine off the ice surface, and extinguished the flames within seconds. Words cannot express the appreciation we have for Jordan, his quick thinking and heroic actions. Not all heroes wear capes, and in this instance, the hero just happened to be driving an ice resurfacer. None of us need further reminders of how bad 2020 has been, however, we received an additional one last night inside an ice rink in Rochester N.Y.”
