BETHEL – A fire in the waste wood section of Bethel Furniture Stock Inc. in West Bethel village Tuesday night drew firefighters from Bethel and Gilead.
Bethel Assistant Chief Mike Jodrey said that no one was injured in the fire, nor did the mill shut down production.
“It was not a structure fire. The fire was outside the structure. Nothing got inside the building,” Jodrey said after firefighters returned to Bethel’s station.
Eleven firefighters from Bethel and a handful from Gilead, along with tankers and engines, were sent to the mill on Route 2 at 7:39 p.m. Newry firefighters and firetrucks stood by at Bethel’s station.
Jodrey said that the fire was in a wastewood grinder behind the mill complex.
“Apparently, a bearing went out on a drum on the chipper, which caught the hopper on fire and two conveyor belts. The hopper, which is like a funnel, was full of small blocks of hardwood,” he said.
Bethel Patrolman Buddy Richard, who was first to arrive, said mill employees had tried to knock down flames using fire extinguishers. He credited them with slowing the fire.
Jodrey said that when firefighters arrived, there were a half-dozen fire extinguishers on the ground.
“We knocked it down in about 15 minutes, then spent the rest of the time cleaning up hot spots and smoldering sawdust,” he said.
Jodrey declined to estimate the amount of damage, but said “it shouldn’t affect the operation of the mill.”
Firefighters spent about two hours on the scene.
According to its Web site, Bethel Furniture Stock manufactures edge-glued panels and solid wood bendings of quality northern hardwoods, specializing in fully machined chair seats and chair backs. The company is one of the nation’s leading producers of solid wood bendings.
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