Investigators are still sifting through the debris at the Robbins Lumber yard in Searsmont trying to pinpoint the cause of the fire and explosion on Friday that killed one firefighter and injured at least a dozen other people, state officials said Tuesday.
Shawn Esler, the Maine state fire marshal, said his office is not investigating the tactics or strategies that firefighters used to respond to the fire, which is beyond the scope of his agency. Reports on the day of the explosion indicate that the people most seriously injured first responders were near a silo full of wood shavings when it exploded.
Combustible dusts such as sawdust present a risk of fires, flash-fires and explosion, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
More than 45 state and federal officials remain on site in Searsmont, said Joel Davis, the chief fire investigator at the state fire marshal’s office, speaking outside the Searsmont Community Building on Tuesday.
“Our mission as investigators at this point is to seek answers on how this fire occurred,” said Davis.
“We are seeking those answers for the Cross family,” he said, referring to the family of Andrew Cross, the 27-year-old firefighter from Morrill who died in the incident.
Officials said they hope to finish the on-the-ground investigation in a matter of days but gave no timeline for releasing the investigation’s results.
Forty-six fire departments sent a total of 299 firefighters to the site of the Robbins Lumber fire, officials said. Some of those departments responded a day after the explosion to relieve firefighters from surrounding towns who had been there all day Friday.
The day of the fire, a mill official said the fire started in and spread from an area of the plant where shavings are bagged to the silo, which soon exploded.
Davis gave an overview of how the investigation has unfolded over the last five days. Investigators arrived on Friday and focused on accounting for all of the firefighters, and locating anyone who was missing. Later that afternoon, the focus shifted to locating Cross’s body in the debris and preparing it to be transported to the state medical examiner’s office. He said Cross’ body was recovered a few hours after the explosion.
On Saturday, personnel from the Federal ATF arrived and federal and state investigators developed a plan for the investigation. On Sunday and Monday, investigators examined the scene and brought in heavy equipment to move large metal pieces and structural debris.
On Wednesday they plan to bring in large cranes to remove the remains of the silo in order to investigate the ground below it.
Investigators have conducted more than 150 interviews so far, Davis said.
Officials did not respond to reporters’ questions requesting more specifics about the fire departments’ response to the incident.
Esler said he recently met with local fire chiefs who wanted him to make sure people knew that the volunteer fire service needs help.
“If you’ve ever considered volunteering, now is the time,” he said.
As of Monday afternoon, eight of the injured people were still hospitalized in Boston and Portland while four had been released.
Details for Cross’s memorial were published on Tuesday. A public visitation will be held on Thursday afternoon from 5 to 8 p.m. at Riposta Funeral Home in Belfast. A memorial service will be held on Friday at 1 p.m. at Veracity Chapel in Morrill.
