Category Archives: Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Huntingburg, IN – Sprinklers help limit damage in fire at sawdust storage building

The Huntingburg Volunteer Fire Department was called Saturday morning to the report of a fire in OFS Plant No. 18’s sawdust storage facility.

Department spokesman John C. Smith said, given a similar incident eight years ago, he braced for the worst and quickly called for manpower assistance from the Holland Volunteer Fire Department.

On July 6, 2007, a similar fire in the then-60-by-120 sawdust storage building behind the plant kept firefighters busy for 14 hours, Smith said. But, he added, that building has been replaced by a new one with a sprinkler system. And it was that sprinkler system that curtailed damage after Saturday’s 8:58 a.m. call by activating and extinguishing the main body of the fire, Smith said.

The fire’s cause was attributed to a mechanical failure in an auger system used to move sawdust into the building, according to Smith.

Large front-end loaders supplied by Brewer Farms Inc., Huntingburg, were used to take sawdust out of the building so firefighters could access the area where the fire started.

Smith said there was no appreciable damage to the building.

Huntingburg’s department was on the scene with four trucks and 13 firefighters for five hours. Holland’s department responded with 10 firefighters. While four worked alongside Huntingburg firefighters for the duration, Smith said, others were released throughout the morning as conditions allowed.

OFS personnel assisted with sawdust removal and a Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services ambulance was on standby at the scene. Members of the Huntingburg Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary were on hand to provide food and drinks for those extinguishing the smoldering sawdust.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Columbia City, OR – Wood dust fire at mill is controlled with help from sprinklers

A flash fire broke out at the West Oregon Wood Products mill in Columbia City on Saturday night, May 23, but there was no serious structural damage recorded, according to the chief of Columbia River Fire & Rescue. The fire was “largely controlled” by workers at the mill and the fire sprinklers, according to the CRF&R release, and they worked in concert with firefighters to put out smoldering wood and dust over the course of about two hours.

A press release provided to the Spotlight on Tuesday, May 26, by Jay Tappan states the fire was reported at 10:05 p.m. Fire crews from CRF&R and the Scappoose Fire District responded with six fire engines, along with other support vehicles, and 23 personnel.   No injuries were reported. Tappan told the Spotlight there appears to be no structural damage from the fire, although a full cost estimate was not available. The flash fire was caused by hot metal fragments that ignited the wood dust, an investigation determined. The mill returned to operations Sunday.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Revelstoke, BC – Sprinklers aid firefighters in suppressing blaze at sawmill

A section of a Revelstoke sawmill was badly damaged in an early morning fire Wednesday.

Fire Crews were called to the Downie Timber mill just after 6:00 a.m.

“Upon arrival, fire crews found heavy fire damage in the millwright area and light smoke on the second floor”, says fire chief Rob Girard.

Girard says it took just under an hour for 22 firefighters to extinguish and overhaul the blaze with the mill’s sprinkler system doing most of the suppression work.

“I am really pleased with the results of the sprinklers suppression in the fire area. We realize how important this mill is to the community”.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Lincoln, ME – Sprinkler system helps save wood mill from extensive damage

A sprinkler system helped save a Main Street wood mill from extensive damage in a nagging fire that took about three hours to contain on Tuesday.

No injuries were reported, firefighters said.

Passers-by reported the fire at about 4:20 p.m. at LMJ Enterprises, 431 Main St., police said. The mill’s screening equipment and some other machinery at the east end of the main building were destroyed, Lincoln fire Capt. Bob Bean said.

The mill, which makes wood shavings for animal bedding, would have taken heavy damage had the flames been carried by the mill’s conveyer belts from the screening equipment into the mill’s attic area, Bean said.

“The fire did not get into the mill,” Bean said Tuesday. “The sprinkler system kicked in, and that bought us enough time to get a handle on it.”

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Spokane, WA – Fire at paper manufacturer put out with help from sprinkler system

What could have turned into a raging inferno was instead a smoldering mess thanks to the sprinkler system installed at Inland Empire Paper.

Fire crews responded to the paper mill on Argonne just after 2:30 p.m. on April 15 for a fire in the recycling building. Employees were unloading giant bundles of recycled materials that were held together with metal bands, said Spokane Valley Fire Department spokeswoman Melanie Rose.

The metal of one of the bands scraped across the floor, got hot and ignited the bundled paper, Rose said. Crews were able to put out the fire quickly with help from the sprinkler system. The quick response was due in part to the department’s pre-incident planning, Rose said. “We already knew what was in there,” she said.

Crews from Spokane County Fire District 8 assisted at the fire and crews from Spokane County Fire District 9 staffed several Valley Fire stations while crews were at the paper mill.  Inland Empire Paper is owned by Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Old Town, ME – Mill fire doused by sprinkler system; no injuries

Fire crews from four towns battled a fire at the Expera Mill in Old Town today.

Flames broke out in the number-four turbine area just after 10 this morning.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke between the first and second floors.

We’re told oil and debris caught fire.

“We sent two crews in, one to the bottom floor, one to the top floor. We worked our way down to it, and the sprinkler system had gone off and that extinguished most of it. And we just continued with extinguishing the hot spots and making sure that everything was all right. And it was turned back over to mill personnel, probably within a half an hour, 45 minutes,” said Captain Mike HIldreth of Old Town Fire Department.

Hildreth says damage doesn’t appear to be too extensive.

No word on a cause yet.

No one was hurt.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Armstrong, BC, Canada – Sprinklers help control electrical fire at wood mill

The sprinkler system and an employee with a fire extinguisher quickly dealt with an electrical fire at the Tolko Industries mill in Armstrong this afternoon.

Fire crews responded to what they thought was a structure fire at about 1:25 p.m., Monday, March 30, but it turned out to be an electrical motor fire.

“The sprinkler head tripped and they used an extinguisher on it,” Armstrong Fire Chief Ian Cummings says. “It turned out to be very minor.”

Fire crews brought out their fans to get the smoke out of the affected building.  No one was hurt.

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Elk Grove Village, IL – (NO MEDIA COVERAGE) Fire in paper baler contained by sprinkler system

*** NO MEDIA COVERAGE – Fire Department Reported ***
REPORT OF A FIRE IN A PAPER BALER — CONTAINED BY A SPRINKLER HEAD, BUT CAN’T EXTINGUISH THE FIRE.  ABOUT 300 FEET OF HO– USE REQUIRED TO DO– USE THE FIRE IN THE PAPER BALER.   FIRE OUT IN SMOLDERING BALES AT ABOUT 1:00 PM.

THU FEB 26 2015 ~12:39 PM
ELK GROVE VILLAGE FIRE DEPARTMENT
PAPER BALER CONTENTS FIRE
2255 PRATT BLVD ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL

Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill

Sprinkler system activates to help control fire at paper company (Williamsport, MD)

The Maryland Paper Company in Williamsport is recoveringThursday after machinery caught fire late Wednesday night.  According to Deputy Chief State Fire MarshalJason Mowbray, the fire originated in a 2011 JCB Front End Loader, which isused to manipulate and handle paper for the products the company creates. Thefire then spread to the flammable products nearby. There were no injuriesreported, and the only damage the company sustained was the loss of the FrontEnd Loader and the replacement of the sprinkler head system.