Two owners of the Searsmont lumber mill where a silo exploded Friday are recovering at a Boston hospital.
Owners Jim Robbins and Alden Robbins, along with family member Lily Robbins, are recovering at Massachusetts General Hospital’s burn unit, Robbins Lumber said in a Monday statement.
“They have a long road to recovery ahead, but they are in the very best hands, and we look forward to their return,” the 145-year-old family-owned business said.
A fire broke out about 10:05 a.m. at the Robbins Lumber campus off Route 131 in an area where wood shavings are packed in plastic bags. That blaze then spread to a silo filled with sawdust that exploded about 11 a.m. as firefighters stood nearby.
That prompted nearly two dozen fire departments to scramble to the scene as crews tried to contain the blaze and tended to the nearly dozen wounded.
One firefighter, 27-year-old Andrew Cross of the Morrill Volunteer Fire Department, was killed. Ten people, including the three Robbinses, remain hospitalized.
“We are profoundly thankful for the courage, professionalism, and sacrifice shown by the first responders who answered the call that day,” Robbins Lumber said in the statement. The company declined to release further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
A joint federal-state investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire and explosion.
