ASHLAND, Maine — The Ashland Fire Department extinguished a small fire at Northeast Pellets on Tuesday morning, an incident the company’s president said could have easily become far worse.
Matt Bell, president of wood pellets manufacturer Northeast Pellets, located on Realty Road in Ashland, said that a fire began on a conveyor within the facility around 6 a.m. A few employees performing start-up maneuvers for the day quickly reported the flames to the Ashland Fire Department.
Bell said that the employees did their best to contain the fire until the Ashland Fire Department arrived. Once firefighters arrived, they worked with staff to put out the flames, successfully doing so by around 6:30 a.m.
According to Bell, the fire resulted in “no damage” and no one involved was injured. He said the damage could have been far more severe.
“It was really rather small, thankfully,” Bell said. “But it could have — without the people reacting and responding the way they had — spread and been much worse.”
The factory, including the conveyor where the fire began, was back in regular use only a few hours after firefighters and Northeast Pellets staff extinguished the fire.
While Bell said he appreciates the concerns of the community, he reassured people that everything at the facility is running perfectly.
Bell said he was unaware of what caused the fire, and said that even minor fires such as what occurred on Tuesday were rare at the facility.
Since beginning operations in 2006, Northeast Pellets has suffered devastating fires at its primary production building in 2017 and 2009.
The Ashland Fire Department could not be reached for comment on the incident.
