A new fire broke out on Thursday at the Novelis aluminum plant in Oswego, New York, a key supplier of sheet metal for Ford’s F-150 lineup, including the all-electric F-150 Lightning, the company said. The four-alarm blaze began in the morning and was still burning hours later. “Everyone who was working at the plant was safely evacuated,” Novelis told TechCrunch, adding that “the fire is under control but crews are on site to make sure it’s fully extinguished.” Local outlet CNY Central first reported the incident.
The Oswego facility previously suffered a major fire in September that halted operations, a disruption Ford estimated could cost the automaker around $2 billion. A smaller fire followed in October, though Novelis had planned to restart production in December. Stellantis and Nissan also reported limited production impacts linked to the September blaze.
Ford scaled back output of its F-150 trucks after the initial incident, as the model has long relied on aluminum body panels. The company resumed production in October but prioritized gasoline and hybrid variants over the F-150 Lightning, which executives have reportedly discussed discontinuing.
It remains unclear how the latest fire will affect Ford’s production planning or Novelis’ restart timeline. Ford did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the Oswego Fire Department also did not return inquiries.
