BUCKSPORT, Maine — A two-story electrical fire at one of Verso Paper Corp.’s pulp machines in Bucksport was extinguished Thursday night by local firefighters and the company’s emergency crew.
A Verso worker reported the fire around 8:15 p.m. after seeing smoke at the mill’s Thermo-Mechanical Pulp plant. The blaze apparently began at a cable tray, where power, computer and other wires collect together, according to Verso spokesman Bill Cohen.
There was a lot of thick smoke, and open flames, but no one was hurt, Cohen said. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Bucksport Fire Chief Craig Bowden said that when his fire crew arrived, a corrugated metal wall near the cable tray was burning, and the fire had spread over two stories and multiple levels of machinery.
“We focused on the actual structural part that was burning,” Bowden said. “They have electricians on duty who came in and shut down power in certain areas so we could get in.”
The fire was extinguished within about 15 minutes, Bowden said, but crews from Bucksport, Orrington, Orland and Verso’s Plant Emergency Group worked for another hour to extinguish stray wood chips and dust.
“We started at the top and washed it down because all those chips were still smoldering,” he said. “We went from the top, then down a level and so on until we were at the drains.”
Cohen said the mill continued operations throughout the episode, but that the Thermo-Mechanical Pulp machine is still shut down for repairs. He said the company had no estimates about when it will be running again, or what financial losses Verso would incur through reparations and machine downtime.
“They’re in the process of getting it back up and running, but I don’t have a timeline for you,” he said.
A Bucksport fire crew also responded to a report of smoke at Verso around 11:15 Friday morning, Bowden said. By the time they arrived, Verso workers had discovered the smoke originated at a distressed mechanical belt at Tower 7, a woodyard conveyor. Verso’s crew had taken care of the issue, and there was no fire.
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
The Verso mill in Sartell blew up, insurance company paid out, closed up the mill, happy shareholders, all the Sartell management team comes to Bucksport …… hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ………. what’s next ?????????? Can you guess???
I’d say that shareholders of any paper company haven’t been too happy for the last 12-14 years because even though the companies are cranking out product like crazy in most cases they’re doing it at a loss because of the oversupply of publishing paper in the US and foreign dumping and/or competition. Verso’s loss of 1 or 2 machines at Sartell will not cure the oversupply, prices will remain depressed in the forseeable future, and shareholders are not happy.
Well stated. The steel and supporting industries are dying/dead from many of the same causes. When we had a 25% import fee on Japanese pickups in the 80s, we had to get around it by getting them in pieces to assemble. Now they do that here, but due to lax import agreements control, we’ll continue to see the erosion to foreign imports/influence.
I am far from an isolationist, but when do we stop the climb to being nothing more that a nation of service providers? If, gawd forbid, are we going to have to fight the Chinese with Chinese steal? Don’t laugh people. Our embargo was the bigger cause of Pearl Harbor and that wasn’t really long ago. Those who forget are destined….
Slow down the competition so we can find something made in America.We used to be able to turn to our ‘envy of the world’ manufacturing base with all its good paying jobs.
Thanks for the chance to rant. :)
Someone could have died and you people are doing nothing but moaning about shareholders (rich people) Hats off to the mill employees for extinguishing a fire that could have killed people
Believe it or not, a fire is not hat big of a deal in this particular setting. Everyone one at the mill is trained for this and have faced it many, many times. And sometimes to C.Y.A. management will involve the local fire department. Industrial workers face injury and death every day. Through training and common sense most go home uninjured every day.
I did some work there as a sub contractor years ago and at the initial safety meeting they told us that if we started a fire we would be the most hated folks in bucksport because the company would shut down operations and cut their losses .I hope for the sake of the work force that is no longer the case.Good job and kudos to all the first responders .