Maine lumber mill fire, explosion leave at least 1 firefighter dead

A firefighter is dead and several others are in serious or critical condition after a fire led to an explosion at a Maine lumber mill Friday.

The explosion at Robbins Lumber in Searsmont took place as firefighters worked to suppress the fire in a silo, first reported about 10:05 a.m., the Fire Marshal’s Office said.

They didn’t share the total number of firefighters who were injured; two Maine hospitals had previously indicated they were expecting 11 patients.

The fire was contained but still burning as of about 6:30 p.m., according to the Fire Marshal’s Office.

At least two dozen fire departments helped battle the blaze, along with various state agencies and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The Fire Marshal’s Office didn’t share if anyone besides firefighters was injured, but one of the owners of Robbins Lumber has said all its employees had been accounted for.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of Friday evening, and that investigation was expected to take some time, officials said.

This video shared with NBC affiliate News Center Maine shows a huge fire sending smoke towering over the area:

Images shared by the Fire Marshal’s Office showed heavy flames engulfing what appeared to be an entire building.

Firefighters spent hours shuttling water back and forth to the well-known mill in the Maine lumber industry — both of the state’s U.S. senators said in statements about the fire that they’d visited through the years.

“We have dumped all of the resources from the whole county over to that area,” Waldo County 911 director Mike Larrivee told The Associated Press.

It was a “dynamic and dangerous situation,” said Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety.

State Fire Marshal Shawn Esler noted for reporters that Waldo County’s fire departments are staffed by volunteers, but “what I saw was a professional firefighting effort.” He didn’t share specifics on the number of injuries, saying, “we have some families we need to talk with.”

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland had said it was anticipating 10 patients from the incident being transferred there, while Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center was treating one patient who was in critical condition, a spokesperson for the Bangor hospital said.

Officials haven’t shared the name of the firefighter who died. Their identity would be confirmed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The injured firefighters were being treated throughout the state, according to the Fire Marshal’s Office, which was still confirming information about everyone who was injured.

In a statement, Gov. Janet Mills asked Mainers “to join me in keeping all those affected in their thoughts.” Sauschuck said she was headed to the facility Friday afternoon.

A Robbins Lumber employee, purchasing manager Ben Hamel, told the Bangor Daily News that fire spread from a packed wood shaving storage area to a silo nearby, causing an explosion.

The fire department in nearby Camden said it had a crew helping, and that it anticipated committing staff to help for several days.

“Our thoughts are with the injured, medical professionals providing care and first responders working to control the situation,” the department said on Facebook.

Searsmont is in central Maine, east of Augusta near Belfast. Robbins Lumber is a 145-year-old business that mills white pine at its 40-acre Searsmont facility. It burned down in 1957, according to the business’ website.

The Associated Press’ Patrick Whittle contributed to this report.

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