SARTELL -- Two firefighters were hurt and heavy equipment had to be used to battle a fire at the former Verso Paper Mill in Sartell Wednesday night.

Crews were called to the closed mill at about 8:00 p.m.

Sartell Fire Chief Ken Heim says one of his firefighters hurt his shoulder and another hurt his knee battling the blaze.

Heim says it was a very difficult fire to fight because of the tight quarters in where it was located. He says heavy equipment was used to tear away at the building and get to the source of the flames. Heim also says tanker trucks had to be called in because of the lack of available water on site.

The fire chief says the flames were in a coal chute and says it's likely torches or some other demolition equipment sparked coal dust, insulation or other materials.

Seven different fire departments were on scene helping battle the fire.

The mill is being demolished following an explosion and fire that killed one person and injured four others on Memorial Day 2012.

The mill is currently owned by AIM Development. The company has been working on demolishing the site since last September.

They were expected to have the project completed by the end of this year.

 

Dan DeBaun, WJON News
Dan DeBaun, WJON News
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Paper Mill Fire August 6, 2014
Photo by Alex Svejkovsky, WJON News
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