Sawdust fire proves difficult to extinguish

by Kevin Lilly
Pharos-Tribune news editor

September 08, 2009 10:18 pm

— Logansport firefighters spent six hours Tuesday on the scene of a sawdust fire at Cole Hardwood.
Assistant Chief Dave Huff said he was unsure what ignited the highly combustible material. Upon arrival just before 10 a.m., he was concerned about the nature of burning sawdust inside a silo. He said pressure can build up to the point it can cause an explosion.
“You can’t send anybody inside those things because it’s just way too dangerous,” Huff said. “If one of those things explode, it can be one heck of an explosion.”
Randy Cole, co-owner of the lumber company, said workers heard a loud boom from pressure forcing the lids off port holes atop a silo partially filled with sawdust. Cole said the safety valves served their function.
“I’m just happy that no one got hurt,” Cole said as he looked on while firefighters shot water in from two sides at the base of the silo.
The fire melted paint off most of the white storage bin, which stands about as tall as the City Building.
After returning to station about 4 p.m., Huff talked about the challenges presented with fighting a fire inside a 42,000 cubic feet storage bin.
The silo had an auger running down the middle, and it was sectioned off into five or six levels divided by floors, permitting only limited access to the fire, Huff said.
Firefighters surrounded the silo with trucks, opened up doors and portholes near ground level and sprayed an estimated 200,000 gallons of water inside.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Huff said. “It’s bad enough the way it is. Nobody got hurt, and that’s what counts.”
Monticello firefighters were called in for assistance because Logansport’s ladder truck was out of service with mechanical problems. Cole expressed thanks to Monticello for sending the truck.
“We appreciate that very much,” he said.
Cole explained that the business burned the sawdust to create steam heat, which is used to dry lumber and maintain a controlled-temperature setting in hardwood storage areas. Without a full investigation, he said, he could not determine whether the silo was a total loss. Most of the water-logged sawdust went down the drain.
As sawdust and water poured from the silo, a nearby parking lot flooded. Water reached several inches deep before sawdust was cleared from the drain.
Huff said the metal siding expanded and might have compromised its strength. Also, a cable holding up the dust collector unit, or baghouse, on top of the silo broke, causing the entire thing to lean.
Cole said the fire did not slow production at either Cole Hardwood or IDI, but he said it did cause a slight disruption in traffic flow to and from the lumber yard.
Cole Hardwood’s insurance company will be conducting an investigation.
The company had a similar fire in 2005. Cole said Tuesday’s blaze was the third of its kind at the facility.
• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com

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