Robbins Lumber will not lay off workers at the Searsmont mill where a fire and explosion Friday killed a firefighter and injured a dozen other people, according to the state.
Workers are receiving paychecks while the plant is shut down this week and the company intends to resume production there soon, the Maine Department of Labor said Tuesday.
The Maine State Fire Marshal’s office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are currently conducting a joint investigation into the incident, which a company official said started in an area where wood shavings are bagged and then spread to a silo full of shavings, which then exploded.
Firefighters and emergency response personnel from multiple surrounding towns were at the mill on Friday morning trying to contain the blaze when the silo exploded, injuring more than a dozen people, including some mill employees. Andrew Cross, a firefighter with the Morrill department, was killed by the blast.
Investigators have been documenting the scene, preserving evidence and have interviewed more than 50 witnesses so far, according to an update on the investigation issued by the state Department of Public Safety on Monday afternoon.
The company employs more than 100 people at its 40-acre plant in Searsmont where it has been in operation since 1881, according to its website.
