Local sawmill burns to the ground

[Sawyerfortyish]

Some of you guys in PA and here in NJ may already know that the Maier lumber company in Banger PA caught on fire saturday night and burnt to the ground. They said the roof caved in as the first of five fire companies got there. It was so hot the steel trusses in the roof melted. It's a shame they just took out the circle saw and put in a brand new band saw head rig last fall. The fire is being investigated they suspect maybe a lightning strike I hope it wasn't of the jewish kind. (I heard some rummers over the last year) I know a lot of sawmill fires something like 60% start with air compressers being left on and an air leak in the middle of the night.

[sawguy21]

A mill fire is frightening, really hard to control. With any luck, they have full insurance coverage. Has anyone heard from Danny S? His employer had to rebuild after a major fire.

[Ron Wenrich]

Just the other year Bailey Lumber in Kempton burnt down.  That's over in Berks county.  Seems like the same scenario.  They had put a bandmill in just a year or two before.  The owner had just arrived home from hunting camp and his mill was on fire.  Burnt to the ground.

Maybe bandmills aren't really the holy grail as far as sawmills go.  I don't think Bailey rebuilt, and I have my doubts that Maier will.  I can only think of one mill that rebuilt after burning down.  They eventually went broke.

[ARKANSAWYER]

 

  Few years ago a mill burnt here in Yellville.  The owners Dad had a mill about 15 miles away and had shut it down to help Son get started.  After the fire the Boy did not rebuild so Dad opened his back up.  It's office burnt just a month or so ago but the mill shed was saved and they are sawing.  They are not having good luck, or maybe so?

[TexasTimbers]

. . . I know a lot of sawmill fires something like 60% start with air compressers being left on and an air leak in the middle of the night.

Could someone explain this to me I don't get how that can start a fire. I have an industrial size compressor that i leave on every night.

[Ron Wenrich]

Can't answer that one, since we don't have an air compressor plugged in at night.  Only for cleanup.  Most of the fires I can remember come from welding.  It sits there and smolders for quite some time. 

We had a mill fire when lightning hit the exhaust pipe of the power unit.  Burnt the carriage and the mill part, but everything else was OK, even the power unit. 

[Dave Shepard]

With an air leak the compressor will run continually until it overheats and catches fire. The mill my grandfather used to run had a big compressor blow up one night, tore the end of the building off.


Dave

[ARKANSAWYER]

  Also you can have a air line running in sawdust and after some time get a leak where sawdust has sit for many years.  The air blowing over the old dust will cause "spontaionus combustion" and then the fire is on.  We turn just about every thing off at night.  Most of the time I cut the main power to the saw shed.

[Cedarman]

Over the last 15 years we have had 4 or 5 cigarette fires.  Employees cannot smoke except in their vehicles or the break room and have never violated that policy.  It is loggers and customers that come in with a lit cigarette and put it out by stepping on it. As soon as we see a smoker, we politely ask that they finish in their vehicle and extinguish it inside it. At real dry times with the fine sawdust we have it can start to smoulder.  We find them by the sniff test.  Usually a foot diameter black spot with a small amount of smoke coming off.  Undetected it can expand until it hits a stack of lumber or a wall and there it could go.  We had one very small fire caused by grinding.  Manifolds have caught some sawdust on fire.  We have fire extinguishers on the ready.
We do our best to keep things clean and have our logs and lumber stacks in groups rather than all together.
I worry more about arson than anything else.  But have alarms in case I get invaded.

[SwampDonkey]

A mill fire is frightening, really hard to control. With any luck, they have full insurance coverage. Has anyone heard from Danny S? His employer had to rebuild after a major fire.

Danny has been back to work in a new shop for a least a year. Craig's rebuilt a new and improved shop with new toys.  ;D Haven't seen him post much for a while. He does browse through sometimes.

[Dave Shepard]

  Also you can have a air line running in sawdust and after some time get a leak where sawdust has sit for many years.  The air blowing over the old dust will cause "spontaionus combustion" and then the fire is on.  We turn just about every thing off at night.  Most of the time I cut the main power to the saw shed.

That is why I feel fortunate that our mill is on concrete and gets swept out very often. After it is swept out, you couldn't find a flake of sawdust with a team of CSI investigators due to the sweeper being a little overboard. However we have been blowing green sawdust and kiln dried planings into a 40' box trailer for a while now. Not my idea. Gonna be a big bang someday.


Dave

[easymoney]

 about a year and half ago i had a hobby sawmill, woodworking shop lumber storage all under one roof within 4 feet of my house. late one afternoon i was welding on a trailer a spark from the welder ignited some sawdust which smoldered all night until it found a 5 gallon gas can sitting next to a 5 gallon can of diesel fuel and a 5 gallon can of hydraulic fluid then things really got under way with the help of the contents of an acetylene tank and oxygen tank. eventually a portable propane tank did its part. the fire department arrived and did what they could but all was a total loss house several cars and trucks  included. last summer i was busy taking scrap metal to market clearing my lot off and starting over.

[redoakrich]

In my humble opinion the mill in Bangor was hit by the real lightening not the other kind. I have been in the sawmill business for over 30 years and 99% of the people I have delt with during that time are fine upstanding businessmen. More power to the MLC if they rebuild.