[Scotsburn, NS]—Fire struck the Ligni Bel Sawmill in Scotsburn (Nova Scotia) on Canada Day.
Several firefighters sustained minor injuries from a flashover while fighting a fire in the boiler house at the sawmill.
Kate Strong, deputy fire chief in Scotsburn, explained that a flashover is a blowout caused by intense heat.
“It blew metal and people,” she said.
The Scotsburn fire department responded to the fire at 3:21 a.m. with West River, Caribou and Alma as mutual aid and River John on standby. River John actually had to respond to a separate fire on Poplar Hill during the incident.
“There was a huge amount of damage,” Strong said. “All their electrical systems were destroyed.”
She said it would likely be a setback to the company.
“It was contained to the boiler house,” said Gilbert Carre, manager of the Quebec-owned mill.
“It is affecting our operations,” he said. “We used the boilers to dry the lumber.”
The mill was caught off guard by the incident and they do not have any temporary measures in place to substitute for the burned-out boiler house.
The recently modernized mill produces dried framing lumber and is owned by Lebcorp Ltd. of Montreal, which has owned and operated lumber mills since 1956.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined and the fire marshal was not able to investigate yesterday.
“It appears to be mechanical,” said Strong, but she added she can’t be certain.
The New Glasgow Daily News
