A devastating fire recently swept through a significant metal manufacturing facility in upstate New York, potentially impacting Ford’s finances to the tune of billions.

On Thursday, Novelis, renowned as the leading global recycler of aluminum and a key supplier for U.S. car manufacturers, announced that its expansive 1.5-million-square-foot plant in Oswego was engulfed in flames. The company has not yet disclosed the cause of the fire.

The fire broke out in the plant’s hot-rolling section, where slabs of aluminum are heated and rolled into sheets for automotive use. Firefighters were alerted shortly before 9 a.m. as thick smoke and intense flames filled the area.

Over 80 firefighters from 20 different departments engaged in a determined battle against the five-alarm fire, working tirelessly for nearly nine hours. They employed tanker trucks and numerous ladder trucks to combat the blaze from the roof.

Thankfully, all 1,100 employees at the site were evacuated safely, as confirmed by local authorities.

‘We’re aware of the situation and working with Novelis to learn more,’ a Ford spokesperson said on Friday morning. 

The fire marks the second significant blaze at the plant since September and yet another blow to Ford’s already-hobbled truck production. 

The plant is central to Ford’s most profitable car — and America’s best-selling vehicle — the F-150. 

A Novelis plant caught on fire twice in three months, causing another headache for Ford. The company already said it could lose up to $2billion from the first fire, and told Daily Mail it’s assessing the damage (pictured: the September fire)

Ford had to slow output of its pickups in US plants because of the first fire

A decade ago, Ford bet big on lighter, more fuel-efficient body panels for its pickup — and Novelis became its key partner in producing them. 

Novelis was the main supplier of that lightweight aluminum. 

When the part of the plant that heats and shapes metal caught fire in September, it choked off the supply of those sheets and forced Ford to slow F-150 output. 

At the time, Ford estimated the disruption would cost between $1billion and $2billion. 

The September outage had already forced temporary shutdowns at auto plants in Tennessee and Michigan. 

In October, Novelis told the Daily Mail it expected the plant would be operational by December, beating some analyst forecasts that said it would take until March 2026. 

By mid-day Friday, the metal maker told the Daily Mail that parts of the plant were ‘back up and running.’  

‘Novelis will continue to leverage alternate sources, including its global network of plants and industry peers, to mitigate impact,’ Novelis said.  

Ford CEO Jim Farley is facing down another potential production pause on the company’s best-selling vehicle in America

The Ford F-150 features aluminum body panels to increase the truck’s fuel efficiency. Tt’s helped keep the pickup dominant in US vehicle sales for 40 years

Ford’s stock dropped more then two percent Thursday. It recovered by one percent in early Friday trading.  

Novelis had spent the last two months running an around-the-clock repair effort, complete with stadium lights to keep crews working through the night. 

About three weeks after the September fire, Ford told the Daily Mail that it ‘has been working closely with Novelis, and a full team is dedicated to addressing the situation and exploring all possible alternatives to minimize any potential disruptions.’ 

Aluminum production is becoming a flashpoint in the car-pricing conundrum. In March, President Donald Trump added 25 percent tariffs to all foreign-made aluminum.

He doubled the tariff to 50 percent in May, making it even more expensive for companies in need of new suppliers to find aluminum sources.

Novelis operates several plants around the world, but the Oswego plant is the largest North American operation.