News
Mill Fire Rekindles As Investigators Seek Information
By: Michael O'Brien | Vinton County Courier
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After a fire destroyed the mill Sunday evening, the smoldering ruins of the Jackson Pallet Company at 71600 Route 124 reignited Wednesday.
Units from the Wilkesville Fire Department responded around 12:40 p.m. putting water and foam down to keep the small fire from spreading to nearby log piles and hosed down other potential hot spots.
The fire was first reported around 8:45 p.m. Sunday and the mill was fully engulfed when first responders arrived on the scene.
Fire department units from Wilkesville, Hamden, Wellston, Vinton in Gallia County and Salem Center in Meigs County responded to the blaze. Firefighters reportedly battled intense heat and flame before bringing the fire under control around 4 a.m. Monday.
The structure is a total loss along with pallets, lumber stock, logs and equipment. A truck parked near the building was also destroyed. Firefighters were able to save a second truck stacked with pallets which had caught fire.
Division of the State Fire Marshal spokesman Michael Duchesne said the site was still too hot when investigators arrived on the scene Monday morning. Duchesne said an investigator returned to the site Tuesday and the cause of the fire remains under investigation
State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers is asking for the public’s help in gathering information about the fire.
“It is imperative that someone come forward with information,” Flowers said. “Investigators want to hear from anyone who saw something out of the ordinary at or around the time of the fire or may have heard someone speaking about the fire with unusual level of interest of knowledge.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the State Fire Marshal’s Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit at 1-800-589-2728.