New England Wood Pellet

One of the largest pellet mills in New England had a two alarm fire last night. The initial call went out shortly after nine. Crews were on scene until well after midnight. The automatic fire alarm was tripped and an employee called in the fire. It was indicated that it started in an electrical panel. The cooler was kindled and the first extinguished. This was a delicate task because pellets absorb water and the cooler is not designed to hold that much weight. The fire then moved to a storage silo outside the building. More ladders were called in. It is fortunate that Jaffrey had recently moved their water line further up Old Sharon Road so it could be used in this situation.

Picture taken from NEWP entrance 8/11 am.

At some point in the early morning hours a re-ignition occurred in one of the raw material storage bins behind the facility. Crews are still on scene to extinguish this silo.

Picture from WMUR

An employee commented that about the time the call went out last night Jaffrey had been experiencing brown-outs due to the severe thunderstorms moving through the area.
This is a very high demand year for pellets in New England. Mills run twenty-four seven to try to keep up with demand. This could close NEWP for several weeks putting a crimp or at least a delay in supplies. The good news is that they should still be able to receive raw material supplies so that when they are back up and running they have ample sawdust to work with.

Picture from WMUR

Update The remaining silo that was smoldering was extinguished then emptied. Fire fighters are shoveled out the largest (80 ton) silo, that held finished product, by hand. Over two dozen towns responded to the site over the last 22+ hours. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries.

For video coverage see WMUR at http://www.wmur.com/news/17155015/detail.html

BIG THANK YOU to all the firefighters that responded and helped with this situation. Crews from 25 towns responded. Some of those from volunteer departments. The last crew pulled out around 1:00am this morning.

All firefighters did a great job containing the situation, preventing injury, and saving the equipment from damage where they could.

Silos are a little wet, but o.k. Some equipment inside may need minor repair but NEWP is confident that they will be up and running in a very short amount time.

New Pellet Mill Opened in Schuyler, NY

New England Wood Pellet, which started producing pellets in the early 1990's, has opened a new pellet manufacturing facility in Schuyler, New York. New England Wood Pellet moved to New Hampshire from Massachusetts in the late 1990's. Since then they have added a sawdust dryer to expand their raw material options, a truck dump, and an on-site warehouse which has helped them ramp up production and accommodate 150,000 ton annually. The new mill will have the capacity to run 100,000 ton per year although it is unlikely that it will start with maximum production. The company also has a contract with a Canadian company that ships unbagged product into Massachusetts, where New England Wood Pellet has a processing facility to bag and distribute product in a New England Canadian branded bag.
The Jaffrey, NH plant services most of the New England states, and the New York plant will primarily focus on serving New York state. “There is opportunity here in the region for raw materials, a work base and a place for the market to grow,” Plant Manager Paul McCarthy said Friday at the grand opening of the facility at the Schuyler Business Park.
The new mill will employ around 20 people, and cost almost 11 million to build. The plant had it's grand opening on December 7, 2007.