Seymour firefighters battled a large blaze at a factory in the community yesterday morning.

According to Seymour Fire Department, firefighters were called to the scene of the fire at Seymour Manufacturing on North Broadway Street at 6:47 a.m. Tuesday morning. Units from all three Seymour fire stations responded to the scene and found heavy smoke and large flames coming the roof. The fire appeared to be in the “wax dip” area of the factory, which is were fire starter blocks are produced.

Firefighters used aerial trucks on two sides to knock down the flames and crews with hand lines were able to go in to fight the fire inside. The fire department says the blaze was brought under control within 30 minutes. Firefighters continued to work in the area for more than six hours to overhaul and cleanup the site.

All workers evacuated from the factory safely. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Community leaders are expressing their gratitude to local rescue workers and crews who kept people safe and are working to get their communities open again, after the flooding that started a week ago.

Columbus Mayor Mary Ferdon explained:

Bartholomew County Commissioners President Carl Lienhoop:

Leaders are also crediting changes made after the 2008 flood for helping reduce damage and improve warnings ahead of last week’s heavy rain. They are saying that better flood prediction rain gauges in area rivers give advance warning, better flood maps allow for properties to be built so they are not in he flood plain and higher elevations of newer construction means they are above flood waters when they do come.

Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson said that despite the near-record flooding, the city escaped with minimal damage. He praised the efforts to provide sandbags for those in the community that needed them.

Photo: State Road 11 during the weekend flooding. photo courtesy of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.

Toyota Material Handling North America is announcing its five-member senior leadership team after integrating the Raymond Corporation under the Toyota umbrella.

Toyota Material Handling announced in January that it was formally absorbing the Raymond Corporation, a company it has owned as a separate entity for more than 24 years. The two have combined under the Toyota Material Handling banner however, the company also plans to continue to maintain unique brand identities. The integration process completed last week.

Earlier this week the Columbus-based company announced that Brett Wood will continue to serve as president and CEO as well as a senior executive officer for parent company Toyota Industries Corp.

Michael Field will be the company’s chief operations officers. Previously he served as president and CEO of the Raymond Corporation.

Sam Coles will be Chief Sales & Marketing Officer. He most recently served as President of Toyota Material Handling International in Sweden.

Tony Miller will be Chief Supply Officer. He most recently was Toyota Material Handling’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Engineering & Strategic Planning.

Mark Taggart will be chief administrative officer. He previously was Toyota Material Handling North America’s Chief Financial Officer President of Raylease.

Bartholomew County emergency officials are looking for your reports on any flood-related damages you have had on your property.

According to Bartholomew County Emergency Management, homes or businesses that have been damaged during the flooding that started last Wednesday, are urged to report the damage. You can file a report by calling emergency management at 812-379-1680, by leaving a comment on the Bartholomew County Emergency Management Facebook page.

You can also file damage reports through the statewide 211 system, by calling 211 or 866-211-9966, Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to complete a damage report over the phone. You can also go online to file a report at IN 211 dot org and clicking on Damage Reporting.

Two area organizations are receiving grants from the Duke Energy Foundation for environmental initiatives.

The Foundation made the announcement this week about its shareholder-funded grants to six Central Indiana conservation groups and local governments.

In Bartholomew County, a $35,000 grant was announced to the Applied Research Institute and Advanced Machine and Vehicle Institute to test and to develop clean energy technology. The grant will go toward a facility to test and develop clean energy technologies and toward creating a learning lab to provide education about renewable technologies and offer workforce training and certification programs.

Shelby Eastern Schools in Shelby County is also receiving a $35,000 grant to expand the district’s agricultural programming. That will go to a program at Morristown Junior-Senior and Waldron Junior-Senior High Schools to construct greenhouses. The funds will be used to construct 600-square-foot greenhouses at each school, which will provide hands-on learning experiences for students in horticulture and plant and soil sciences classes.

Other grants went to the city of Wabash Parks Department, Hamilton County Parks and Recreation, Monarch Joint Venture in Putnam County and the Wabash River Enhancement Corporation in Tippecanoe County.

Flood warnings continue on some rivers in our area.

East Fork White River at Seymour remains in the moderate flood stage, at just over 18 feet this morning. That is a foot above the moderate flood level. The river is on its way down but is not expected to return to minor flooding until this evening. The river is not expected to return to normal levels until Friday afternoon.

East Fork White River at Columbus dropped below flood levels early this morning.

Driftwood River at Edinburgh remains in the minor flood stage by inches. It is at 11.4 feet this morning, about three inches above the minor flood level and on its way down. It should return to normal levels later this morning.

Bartholomew County will be holding training sessions on Thursday for its new countywide GIS system.

According to County Assessor Ginny Whipple, the new geographic information system, called Beacon, will go live on Thursday on the county website’s GIS portal. The mapping and property tracking software displays assessment values as well as tax information. The previous program, Elevate, has been in use for many years and was purchased by Schneider Geospatial. The new software combines elements of both program.

Training sessions will be held in the County Council chambers at the Governmental Office Building on Third Street in Columbus tomorrow, with sessions at 8:30, 10:30 and 2. Each session will last about an hour.

Space is limited and you encouraged to make a reservation. You can call the county assessor’s office at 812-379-1505 and hit Option 5.

Note: This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Several major roads have reopened around Columbus as the community recovers from the weekend’s major flooding.

State Road 46 or Jonathan Moore Pike was reopened earlier this morning. Although the traffic signals were initially out at the Interstate 65 and State Road 46 interchange, those are now in service again.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department reports that County Road 325W has reopened between Jonathan Moore Pike and Lowell Road. Deputies caution that there is still some standing water and debris on the road.

Roads Closed:

• Carr Hill Rd, Merchant Mile to Morgan Willow
• SR 11 south of the overpass to Garden City
• SR 11, Between 450S & 550 S
• Southern Crossing, east of SR11 (Jonesville Rd)
• 800 S, east of SR11
• 150 E by Southern Crossing
• Water Street
• 8155 N 330W (Only Spot on 330 You can’t pass 330W)
• Double Y Saddle Club
• 400 N at Tinkey Bridge to US 31
• 100 N/200 W to Indianapolis Rd
• Tellman Rd/200 W to Indianapolis Rd

High Water:

• SR 11, between 650S and 800S
• 300 E/600 S

Closed parks:

• Mill Race Park
• Noblitt Park
• Heflen Park

Ivy Tech is planning another major fundraising drive today in support of Ivy Tech Day.

According to the Columbus campus, you are encouraged to donate during the 24-hour fundraising event. Money raised will be dedicated to student success, scholarships, and transformative programs. This is the third year for the college system-wide annual day of giving.

As part of the festivities, the Columbus school will be holding a live streaming event on the campus YouTube channel. It will be hosted by campus Chancellor Dr. Steven Combs and Vice Chancellor of Development Therese Copeland. Although originating from Moravec Hall on the Central Avenue campus in Columbus it will also feature a remote from the Franklin campus. The  livestream is set to start at 9 a.m.

Last year, Ivy Tech Columbus raised more than $13,000 on Ivy Tech Day. Statewide the annual day of giving raised more than $400,000 for students across the college system.

According to the school, more than 10,000 students are enrolled in the Ivy Tech Columbus area which includes Bartholomew, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson and Shelby counties.

You can watch the livestream on the Columbus campus Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@ivytechcolumbus

You can make a donation here: https://giveday.ivytech.edu/giving-day/99395/department/99409

Bartholomew County emergency officials say there 15 water rescues in the community over the weekend.

Sgt. Dane Duke, with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department said that overall, 32 people were rescued from the high waters. The majority came from rescues at two homeless encampments where eight people and pets were rescued on Saturday just east of US 31 and County Road 50 N and a second encampment on Sunday off of Water Street in Columbus with 12 people and pets.

The Bartholomew County Water Rescue Team is a joint team made up of the Sheriff’s Department and Columbus Township Fire & Rescue Department.

Sheriff Chris Lane said last night that the team had made another rescue, this time freeing two dogs for a family that had been trapped at home when rising flood waters cut off the home. He also thanked Harrison Township Volunteer Department for assisting in the rescue.

Columbus Fire Department also aided  CenterPoint Energy, providing a boat to aid them in reaching a gas utility facility on Tellman Camp Road so they could complete a service on one of their gas delivery units, according to Capt. Mike Wilson spokesman for the city department.