EAST THETFORD — Eleven fire departments fought a fire inside of a silo at Pompanoosuc Mills in Thetford throughout the day Monday.
Firefighters responded to a report of smoke coming out of a silo at the furniture makers’ flagship location around 6:45 a.m. Monday and were still working to extinguish the fire into the afternoon.
The East Thetford facility includes a showroom, warehouse and workshop. The company uses the silo to store sawdust and small pieces of wood that feed the facility’s boiler, Thetford Fire Chief Chad Whitcomb said at the scene.
“Whenever you have sawdust, pressure and a little bit of moisture you have decomposition happening and it can get hot enough to light.”
Nick Porcello, showroom manager at Pompanoosuc Mills
The fire was contained to the steel silo, but because of the flammability of its contents, firefighters had to pump water into the three-quarters-full structure and remove all of the sawdust to eliminate any hot spots.
“It’s a time-consuming event,” Whitcomb said.
Around 10 a.m. there was an explosion that caused burns to two firefighters, who went to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for treatment.
After the explosion, the Hanover Fire Department used a ladder truck to pump water down into the silo from above in order to get things back under control, showroom manager Nick Porcello said.
The explosion also elevated the fire to second-alarm status, Whitcomb said. Firefighters from Thetford, Bradford, Hanover, Lebanon, Norwich, Orford, Strafford, Vershire, Windsor, West Fairlee, and first responders with the Upper Valley Ambulance responded throughout the day.
The Pompanoosuc Mills showroom remained open Monday with minimal interruptions to business, Porcello said. With the exception of a wooden building behind the current showroom, the Pompanoosuc Mill buildings are constructed with steel and cinder blocks, which are not vulnerable to fire.
“This is not the first time that we’ve had a fire here in the silo,” Porcello said. “Whenever you have sawdust, pressure and a little bit of moisture you have decomposition happening and it can get hot enough to light.”
There was a similar silo fire at Pompanoosuc Mills in June 2009, the Valley News reported at the time.
Porcello estimated that it will take about four to five weeks to replace the sawdust that was in the silo.
In the interim, the furniture makers will likely use a temporary oil fire boiler to heat the buildings. There is already a back-up boiler on site because Pompanoosuc Mills just finished upgrading to a new wood-fired boiler last week.