# Fire at Apollo Design Factory



## dvsDave

A fire started at Apollo Design Technology's factory in Fort Wayne, In. in the very early morning of Dec. 9th, 2020.

It appears that one or more people broke into the facility and somehow set fire to the factory. 

*Video from very early in the morning:*







Fire crews investigating early morning factory fire

Firefighters are investigating a factory fire in northwest Fort Wayne.



wpta21.com





*Video from around noon (eastern):*


From our multiple sources at Apollo, it appears the damage is severe, everything inside is destroyed.

Our hearts go out to the Apollo Design Family including Joel and Keersten Nichols, the owners, and CB member @Kelite (Sr. Acct Exec at Apollo)


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## BillESC

Very sad news indeed.


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## dvsDave

Joel Nichol's, the CEO and founder of Apollo, shared an update on LinkedIn. 








Joel Nichols on LinkedIn: #apollodesign #avidlabs #bluepony | 67 comments

As many have heard we had a devastating fire at our facilities. The Fort Wayne Fire department did an incredible job fighting this for 7 hours to finally… | 67 comments on LinkedIn



www.linkedin.com





As many have heard we had a devastating fire at our facilities. The Fort Wayne Fire department did an incredible job fighting this for 7 hours to finally contain it. In the process, the second floor collapsed. We believe this will be a total loss. The fire started after a break-in at 2:30am and is being treated as Arson. No staff or first responders have reported injuries. Blue Pony is online remote and Avid Labs will be remote in a few days. To get Apollo back online will be early in 2021 due to the heavy equipment needs. We will have better information as we can get a handle on things. For any gobo needs please call Rosco or Goboman. These guys make great products and with COVID they should have some capacity. Thank you everyone for the support. I truly feel blessed in all who reached out. #apollodesign #avidlabs #bluepony


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## DaveySimps

So so sad. That is the last thing anyone needs in a rubbish year like this one. Glad no one was injured. 

~Dave


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## StradivariusBone

Lighting up the Christmas star for our Apollo friends this drive-thru, socially distant, Bethlehem village experience. Hope you all recover quickly!


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## cbrandt

I just sent out my standard stars and dots!


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## TimMc

Damn. I hope the Apollo disaster recovery plan is working and the insurance companies are quick to settle.

My condolences to the entire Apollo Designs family.

edit ps: A quick search for fresh news didn't reveal any but I got lots of hits for "arson" and "Fort Wayne." Seems like burning down properties is a routine past time. Very discouraging.


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## RonHebbard

TimMc said:


> Damn. I hope the Apollo disaster recovery plan is working and the insurance companies are quick to settle.
> 
> My condolences to the entire Apollo Designs family.


Perhaps they'll salvage their gel printer. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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## gafftaper

TimMc said:


> Seems like burning down properties is a routine past time.


I'm told that Apollo is located not far from a problematic trailer park. Vandalism and theft is a common problem in the area.


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## Jay Ashworth

RonHebbard said:


> Perhaps they'll salvage their gel printer.
> Toodleoo!
> Ron Hebbard


I was wondering about this as well; among all the things they lost, I hope this was one the least.


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## gafftaper

Jay Ashworth said:


> I was wondering about this as well; among all the things they lost, I hope this was one the least.


I've seen a few pictures from inside and I don't think anything of consequence survived. But they are already relocating and working on buying a new gobo cutting laser.


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## RickR

Hmmm, insurance on a prototype might be enough to build a new one. But they would never duplicate that, only improve on it! 

I hope/assume all their software and financials were backed up off site!


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## Ancient Engineer

I am heartbroken for these good industry people. I am glad there were no injuries. I hope that they can get back to innovating and making good stuff.


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## dvsDave

Latest news I have is that they are working towards getting gobo production back up and running around Valentine's day.


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## Kelite

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this disastrous time. It means a great deal to me and my Apollo family to know you all care.
As you know, last Wednesday morning two vandals broke into the Apollo office facility and started a fire. Having seen 20 minutes of video surveillance of several people breaking into our building the week prior, the police arson team and fire department arson team have positively identified them. Steps are being taken.

After several fire departments and over 100 firefighters battled the blaze over 10 hours, the building and all contents were declared a total loss.

Our insurance company has assisted us in purchasing new CNC machining centers, CNC turning centers, 3D printers and of course, new metal and glass gobo laser equipment. We will be back in business early February.

We have secured a temporary office location from which the rebuilding process will commence. Our new machinery will be delivered to a temporary manufacturing facility located not far from the Apollo building. Any snail mail correspondence can be sent to the Apollo address at 4130 Fourier Dr., Fort Wayne, IN 46818. The post office is re-directing that mail to our temporary office space.

it’s ironic I will celebrate my 24th anniversary with Apollo working from a small temporary facility, which is somewhat similar to my working from a small rented office space with a card table and laptop all those years ago! I am grateful to work for Joel and Keersten Nichols, they have been the lifeblood of Apollo all these years and care a great deal for our employees and customers.

I’ll be in touch with the latest information as it becomes available to me and appreciate all your thoughts and prayers!


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## Amiers

Y’all should think about setting up shop somewhere warm and inviting. Like oh IDK Phoenix . Glad the insurance company isn’t giving you guys the run around.


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## Kelite

gafftaper said:


> I'm told that Apollo is located not far from a problematic trailer park. Vandalism and theft is a common problem in the area.


The tenants of this local trailer park have not been a problem until now. It’s sad because it paints the entire neighborhood in such a poor light...


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## Jay Ashworth

Hopefully, your insurance carrier will be giving you a discount to pay the salary of overnight armed guards.


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## dvsDave

Dedication beyond belief

I am co-owner, along with my wife of Apollo Design, Blue Pony and Avid Labs. All three companies share space in a building we built in 2000 on the northwest



www.journalgazette.net


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## Kelite

Exciting news as several new Okuma CNC 4 axis machining centers and 3 axis turning centers with live tooling just arrived.  The large format printer (hint hint) has also been delivered and is scheduled for installation and training. Metal lasers have shipped from the factory and we expect to see them in the coming days. There will be some time to install the custom optics and proper exhaust runs so we can't state a specific 'GO' date at this time. 
Our new Microsoft Surface Books are a wiz to use and allow us to work from home on icy/sleety days like today. I'm taking care of business from the comfort of my couch at the moment. 

Thank you all for your support and care these past few months as it has certainly been an interesting time. My thanks to the MANY phone calls and emails asking what can be done to assist us over here. You people are what make our industry a family of caring friends, and we appreciate that so very, very much.

I'll post some photos and details as they become available to me.

Thanks all!!!!


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## Chris Pflieger

TimMc said:


> edit ps: A quick search for fresh news didn't reveal any but I got lots of hits for "arson" and "Fort Wayne." Seems like burning down properties is a routine past time. Very discouraging.


Hey now - we got other things to do here! Like meth, and stealing catalytic converters!


gafftaper said:


> I'm told that Apollo is located not far from a problematic trailer park. Vandalism and theft is a common problem in the area.


It's not the best, but it's far from the worst.


Fort Wayne is actually a pretty good place to work and live.


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## Kelite

Chris Pflieger said:


> Hey now - we got other things to do here! Like meth, and stealing catalytic converters!
> 
> 
> It's not the best, but it's far from the worst.
> 
> 
> Fort Wayne is actually a pretty good place to work and live.




Yes Chris, I too believe Fort Wayne as a whole is a marvelous place to live, work, and raise a family.


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## tjrobb

Chris Pflieger said:


> Hey now - we got other things to do here! Like meth, and stealing catalytic converters!
> 
> 
> It's not the best, but it's far from the worst.
> 
> 
> Fort Wayne is actually a pretty good place to work and live.



Hey! Stop stealing meth jobs from Iowa!


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## Kelite

So yesterday our art director and I noticed a flatbed semi truck with four lasers on it slowly driving by our temporary facility. Our enthusiasm was similar to kids on Christmas morning, let me tell you! Unfortunately the truck stopped three blocks away at a machine shop to unload THEIR new lasers!

We'll begin to receive our equipment next week and look forward to cranking out product soon.


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## TimMc

Kelite said:


> So yesterday our art director and I noticed a flatbed semi truck with four lasers on it slowly driving by our temporary facility. Our enthusiasm was similar to kids on Christmas morning, let me tell you! Unfortunately the truck stopped three blocks away at a machine shop to unload THEIR new lasers!
> 
> We'll begin to receive our equipment next week and look forward to cranking out product soon.


What, you didn't send out the staff to direct the truck to your dock? "Arrrg, matey, thar be laser pirates in these here parts! Arrrrg!"

Keith, it's good to hear that Apollo's suppliers and vendors are delivering the goods. We need video/pics of the first completed products from the new line!


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