A Vermont timber frame company’s Springfield facility is considered a total loss after a fire Saturday night.
Investigators believe the blaze that left Vermont Timber Works “extensively damaged” began when discarded materials, like sawdust and dirty rags, spontaneously ignited in a dumpster near the building.
The Springfield Fire Department responded to reports of a fire in North Springfield, finding “heavy fire” on the front of the building and through the roof, according to a release from the fire and explosion investigation unit of the Department of Public Safety.
A dozen other fire departments were called in and helped battle the blaze through the night, but the effort was unsuccessful. The building and its contents are considered a “total loss,” according to officials.
Investigators believe that the fire is accidental.
The business, which constructs timber frames for ski areas, churches, barns and more, produces waste materials like sawdust and dirty rags used for staining wood that “have the potential for spontaneous combustion,” according to officials. The waste is unloaded into a dumpster at the building’s front.
“In this case the discarded materials combined with the warm temperatures and humidity yesterday caused a spontaneous ignition within the dumpster,” Assistant State Fire Marshal Chris Boyd wrote in the release.
Investigators said that the fire “easily” jumped from the dumpster to the building.
In a statement, the Division of Fire Safety encouraged the public to use caution when discarding materials that can spontaneously combust, and recommended using non-combustible receptacles. Dumpsters larger than 1.5 cubic feet are not permitted to be stored within 10 feet of a building, without a sprinkler system, according to the release
“Had these dumpsters been 10’ or further from this building the fire more than likely would have been discovered, reported and extinguished by the Fire Department before the building was threatened,” Boyd said.
A firefighter from Weathersfield sustained a minor injury during the effort to subdue the blaze, according to the Valley News.
State officials say Vermont Timber Works is seeking an alternative place to work. Efforts to reach the company were unsuccessful Sunday.
Vermont Timber Works, founded in 1986, employs 20 people, according to its website. Its work includes the Vermont Veterans Memorial Chapel, Spruce Peak Base Lodge, and the Billings Farm and Museum.