About an hour after Searsmont firefighters responded Friday morning to a fire at a local lumber yard, the blaze took a deadly turn when a silo exploded after the flames spread.
At around 10:05 a.m., the Searsmont Fire Department first responded to the blaze at Robbins Lumber, according to Michael Sauschuck, the Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner. Information about how the fire may have been started has not been released.
When firefighters arrived at the 145-year-old family-run milling, drying and storing business, they found a fire in one of the silos of the lumber yard.
About four minutes later, a Waldo County dispatcher requested support from multiple local fire departments for a structure fire on Main Street. Various crews confirmed they were on their way to the site in the minutes after the request was sent out.
By the end of the day, 24 local fire departments assisted, according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
At 10:20 a.m., a dispatcher requested an ambulance be sent to the Searsmont fire.
At 11:01 a.m., about an hour after firefighters first arrived, a crew member reported to dispatch that one of the silos had exploded, leaving multiple firefighters injured. He requested additional help be sent immediately.
The explosion killed one firefighter and left several in serious and critical condition, Moss said.
Three minutes after the explosion, dispatch was told to treat the incident as a mass casualty, requiring the nearby departments that were placed on standby to report to the scene.
Multiple fire trucks were reportedly on fire.
Earlier in the day, a purchasing manager at the mill said the fire started in an area where wood shavings are packed in plastic bags. Once the flames spread to a nearby silo that was filled with dust, the silo exploded.
The fire was still spreading as of 1:30 p.m.
By mid-afternoon, various federal and state agencies were on scene, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine State Police and the state fire marshal’s office, according to Sauschuck.
As of 6:37 p.m., the fire was contained but still burning, Moss said. The firefighter who died will be transported to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta for identification and an autopsy, Moss said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Moss said.
