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STRONG – A wood pellet mill was badly damaged this morning, after a “huge fireball” ripped through the structure, but nobody is believed to have been injured in the blast.
The incident occurred at the wood pellet production facility, better known locally as the former home of Forster Manufacturing Company’s mill. Strong Fire Department Chief Scott Dyar said that the blast is believed to have originated in the dryer, which was in “start-up mode” and empty of wood pellets at the time.
The explosion was so powerful that it was reportedly felt by the Franklin County dispatchers, in Fairbanks, roughly eight miles away.
The blast occurred at 1:30 a.m., with the local department arriving three minutes later. Dyar immediately asked dispatchers to put out an automatic aid tone; instantly calling for mutual aid from Farmington, New Vineyard, Phillips, was well as Wilton and Kingfield, although the tone for those two departments was later cancelled.
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“It wasn’t really a fire,” Dyar said. “It appeared to be more like a dust explosion, a huge fireball.”
The blast ripped apart the dryer, destroyed some of the cinderblock walls of the milll and rained glass and debris down around the facility. Some windows in nearby buildings were cracked. Amazingly, although four employees of Geneva Wood Fuels, who owns the facility, were working at that time, no one was seriously injured.
Dyar said that one man was working in the yard behind the mill, two others on the roof and a fourth in a control room near the dryer. However, all four walked away from the scene, although Dyar did order three of them to be taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital as a precautionary measure.
Around noon, personnel from the Fire Marshal’s Office and Maine State Police troopers were at the scene of the explosion, mapping out the debris field and attempting to determine what happened. A pair of enormous pellet silos continued to smolder in the background. Dyar said it was too early to determine the full extent of the damage to the building, but that some of the equipment inside the facility appeared to be in relatively good condition.
He also said that he wanted to thank the dispatch service for bringing immediate assistance. He estimated that 50 to 60 firefighters were at the scene this morning.
“Accolades to the dispatchers,” he said. “They put out that automatic aid tone and we got all the help we needed right away without having to ask, which was real helpful.”
The owner of Geneva Wood Fuels, Jonathan Kahn, is reportedly aware of the incident and will be flying in from Chicago, where the company is based out of, sometime this evening. Geneva Wood Fuels LLC purchased the mill in December 2007 and began producing wood pellets in January 2009, after a $13 million retrofit. It had plans to employ as many as 30 full-time workers.
The facility was believed to be insured.
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Thank goodness everyone was ok. Kudos to the county dispatch and FDs involved.
Paper Mills work with mostily wet products and geralily dry with steam, which is only 212 F. or slightly higher depending on pressure. Pellet processing is very different, the dryer is not a dryer like in paper opperations pellet operations use a very high temp kiln that can reach well over 1000 F. ( The one in strong was warming up and was at about 900 F. when it exploded.) This particular kiln was heated with a large hot air fernace (useing no steam) and even though all of the plants metal devices and pipeing were grounded somehow a spark or flame ignited the ever growing amount of very dry wood dust, which will explode, espically if it is in a closed space ( like the 50 foot long 97,000 lb kiln.) this created a situation not unlike whats going on in your cars engine on a massive scale. (hmm, maybe we should run our cars on wood dust?)
Mills like the one in strong should take their que from large scale flour/wheat processing plants which deal with large amounts of dust everyday. though it still happens, they have reduced the chances of this happening by installing grounded metal probes in their transport pipes to make actual contact with the static on the dust particals flowing in the pipe. often the dust is moveing so fast it doesn’t come in full contact with the metal pipe, thus leaveing a growing amount of static IN the dust which can potentially cause a spark. I wonder if this mill had something like that installed???
Very glad that no one was hurt. What is the rush in fixing it? It is a loud (serious noise polluting) and dirty (real air pollution) in-town factory that should not be in a residential area. It’s time has past, and it should not be re-opened. To say that it is needed employment is a lie…take a look at the houses for sale on either side…it is running people OUT of town not into it. The factory is a noise hazard that wrecks the “small” town that people call Strong. Too bad they say they want to re-open.
Running it 24hrs a day….who figured it would blow up?
Stu do you live in Strong? I doubt that you do. I lived there since I was 7 and there is no noise problem or smell issuse from the mill when it was open and ran 24hours. Maybe you should read the article.
Stu,
I hope you have a good job. Most people in this area are very appreciative of the fact that the mill was operating and able to employ 25 people who have families they need to support. This is Maine, the country, where people work hard and live simply. They worry more about providing for thier families then they do about looks. The houses on either side of the mill have been for sale for many years. I’m glad we live in a small town where people have their priorities straight. If you don’t like it here, maybe you would be better off in the city where people really don’t give a ??????.
Stu,
People are leaving because their isnt any work for them here. The mill is a blessing to the community. Im very relieved the 4 people that were in the mill were not seriously injured. (one brother and a close friend)
Stu,
I was raised in Strong while Fosters was still going strong and employed a lot of people in the area.. I never can remember a smell nor any noise complaints that other mills like say a paper mill would have. It is realy to bad that Strong is growing smaller. That Pellet Mill was a good thing and realy the noise wasnt at all noticeable.. In Fact many small towns in maiine use to have Wood Mills or some type of Manufacturing or some sort . Take a ride up to Bingham,Solon and the Forks to see what a mill does when it leaves the area.No jobs and no opertunitys for people. Many people in this area are very blessed and help each other out a lot with jobs and such. This mill was that type of Blessing. I
BEEP BEEP BEEP (sound of excavators 24/7) I do live in Strong, and the noise that this factory was putting out IS noise pollution. I checked the State standard and, if someone was playing music at that level the police would be called. And, the factory puts out a dust that smells alot like someone is sanding wood (it’s called particulate matter and it IS pollution). If any of you commenter’s disagree with these two statements than, in fact, YOU have not been to Strong since March. As for jobs…the mill is owned by someone from IL. (that is officially not LOCAL), and employs only 2 people from Strong, the rest from Farmington. That is total of like 15 people locally. I can tell you the owner of the mill is not putting the money back into Strong. The housing prices have dropped not directly due not to the “housing crisis” but that mill (try checking with a certified appraiser).
YES, mills have been a part of Maine’s history, one that is now past. Maine IS still country, and towns… but why not put the mills in the country where it’s not a problem…not directly in town where it hurts others. And as for history…people aren’t as stoopid as there were back then, we tolerate less because we know more, period. The fact that it was built when it originally was is was due to a lack of transportation… back in the day it employed 300 people that were publicly bussed from as far away as Livermore Falls. Towns HAD to place workplaces where everyone could easily get to (riding horses to work and all). Check out where the SAPPI mill is located…outside of Skowhegan (that makes sense, and people from Solon, Bingham, etc. travel to work there). How about we get the smell that Livermore Falls and Rumford has, that would be nice for Strong.
So, lets move onto the “we have an exploding factory in our small town”. How is that good? Are we happy to have something that might again blow up (1947?) …cinder blocks flying through town and all, trees being cut by flying metal, broken home windows, huge fires etc.
I totally get it about jobs…we all need them, we are all underpaid, but when our jobs impact the lives of others we should be mindful, not demanding. Jobs are privileges…not rights and if Americans started treating them like that there would be alot less problems. I stand by the fact that the pellet mill, while doing something for the county, will do nothing for Strong but make it unattractive to others. I have had family from the city visit, and they think the sound and smell is horrible.
My sympathy goes out to the owner of the mill, and anyone who might have been hurt by the explosion…I’m going to guess that they however don’t care much to hear about how the mill has affected my life.
You always think of yourself?
Strong use to be one of the economic hubs of Franklin county. With numerous mills IN town. It provided jobs so people could afford to live here and provide for their families. Over 200 people use to work at the mill when it was Foster’s, including myself, that mill put me through college. These mills were the lifeline for these small towns and they are pretty much gone now and so are the jobs, the people. The mill has effected many more lives positively than yours. How are small towns in Maine suppose to survive? People here want to live and provide for their families, how are we suppose to do that if we cant work? Do you believe someone in town has the money to create a project like this? Who cares if he is from away. The pellets the mill is providiing heats many homes in the town. Remember when it was -40 last winter? All I heard from people around town is that the mill was a good thing. It put Strong back on the map and provided jobs. Alot of the people hired by the mill grew up in this town. This was a very unlucky accident. The town needs this mill, and others to help create jobs when their are so few around.
STU so your a LIB just say so!
STU…I have lived next to the mill for 43 years now and in town all my life..I love to hear the mill running and wish the others were running also. I hear the mill, the trucks at BOTH garages, and I don’t hear them…as for the smell…who cares. I’ve smelled worse. People in houses next to the mill loved it years ago when it was providing HEAT IN THE WINTER didn’t they. Get a grip!
Hi
I am reading about the accident from Ireland. We too have a pellet mill and have just built a second one in Scotland. Very surprised to hear that the mill in Strong is noisy and smelly!! Like Strong our mills are in small rural towns between them directly employing over 100 and inderictly about 200 and the people here are appreciative of the work opportunities close to home. Stuart alludes to the the noise hazards from the bleep bleep of machines. Talk to the mill managers and ask them to fit broadband bleepers which are much less noisy. Particulates from the process are not nearly as harmful as particulates from alternative fuels such as oil.
It’s always difficult to consider the jbs aspect against the “polluting” effect but the consensus in Stronge appears to be on the jobs.
We have found that talking to the local community on issues can usually resolve them at very little cost to everybodys satisfaction.
Good luck strong on getting your mill back
Hope fuly Stu pays all the taxes in Strong as he is the only one with an issue with the mill sounds like moomy did not give enough hugs when he was young, but there always has too be one amongst us whom can not be happy for others to have employment He must be a millionaire and lives all alone cold and lonely Strong is a Beautiful town and jobs would be a godsend .