“To be able to meet our customers’ needs for a full century is an event of great pride for the Volcanic Heater family,” says product manager Steve Darmon. “Both technology and the economy changed greatly over that kind of time span. Volcanic’s longevity speaks to the commitment and innovative nature of both its owners and its employees over the years.”
Based in Alliance, Ohio, Volcanic has operated as a family-owned business since its emergence in the industrial heating market in 1912. In the early years, Volcanic sold packaged asphalt aggregate dryers and melters to terminals, building the proprietary burners and blowers in its own shop. The Hopkins heater was developed to market to the terminals for hot storage purposes, which is still a core market for Volcanic today.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, Volcanic sold thermal fluid heaters independently, to the military, and to American Hydrotherm Corp. It was not until Oil Transport Inc., purchased the first skidded barge system in the early 1960s that Volcanic Heater began to emerge as a choice vendor for hot oil heating in the inland river market.
The Hopkins family sold Volcanic Heater Inc. in the 1960s to the Morris family. In 1999, a member of the Morris family sold the company to the Fulton Group NA Inc.
Over the years, Volcanic has met the special needs of the customer base by tailoring their products to best serve each application and economic movement. Some examples include the robust skid-mounted barge heater still offered today; the creation of the high efficiency (HE) model in the 1970s to combat high fuel costs with higher efficiency; trailer mount units for the U.S. government; and small-footprint “Alliance” three pass heaters for below-deck operation on ocean going vessels.
Volcanic Heater Inc. currently employs 45 people in Alliance, Ohio and Houston, Texas.
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