By Mallory Panuska
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT —
Crews from several local fire companies were kept busy on Labor Day fighting an afternoon fire at the SFK Pulp Mill.
John Cogar, chief of the Winfield District Volunteer Fire Department, said Monday evening that a paper shredder at the recycling plant, owned by parent company Fibrek Inc., caught fire and spread onto about 80 feet of an attached conveyer belt. Initially, he said employees who were working in the building at the time attempted to control the blaze themselves, but were forced to evacuate after it got too big for them to handle.
He said no one was injured during the incident and that the blaze, which produced clouds of smoke visible from several miles away, was controlled in about a half hour to 45 minutes, but that crews stayed on scene for a total of nearly four hours working at the scene and making sure the flames did not rekindle.
