It’s with great sadness that we inform vinyl junkies that a fire has ripped through California’s Apollo/Transco lacquer vinyl production factory. It served as one of only two lacquer vinyl making companies in the world.

A lacquer vinyl is an aluminum disc coated with a nitrocellulose (a material commonly used in rockets, propellants, printing ink bases and leather finishings) layer into which a sound groove.

The fire reportedly happened last Thursday in Banning, California and it took an incredible 82 firefighters to battle the blaze’s toxic fumes due to the burning of PVC. The smoke from the fire prompted environmental worry within a 1km radius of the fire, potentially affecting the air quality for schools, residents and businesses. Thankfully the factory is located in a more rural area of CA.

On the future of their business, a representative wrote a statement on the companies Apollo website saying, “We are uncertain of our future at this point and are evaluating options as we try to work through this difficult time.”

This news couldn’t come at a worse time for the industry, with global vinyl sales trending up in recent years. Despite this major setback, it’s not all doom and gloom with the other lacquer vinyl company in Japan still in operation. How will the affect the industry? Will the cost of vinyl production go up? It remains to be seen.