SEARSMONT — Hot ash from a biomass plant that had been piled too high in a storage area created enough combustion to burn wooden walls at at Robbins Lumber in Searsmont during the afternoon Sunday, June 23, and again late in the night. Five area fire departments — Searsmont, Morrill, Montville, Appleton and Lincolnville — responded both times, and kept their five water tankers in use throughout the night event.

The first call came at approximately 3 p.m. and Searsmont firefighters responded, finding the hot ash from the biomass combustion had been placed inside a storage facility with walls six feet high and capped with wooden walls and steel roof.

A center wall separated the facility into two bays, and firefighters extinguished a fire that was creeping up the center wooden wall above the cement portion of the walls, according to Searsmont Assistant Fire Chief Tracy Harford.

The ash had been piled higher than the six-foot-high cement walls, said Harford.

Searsmont saturated the fire with water, and hosed down the ash, clearing the scene in the late afternoon.

But the ash refused to cool down sufficiently, a situation likely exacerbated by the steady breeze.

“The wind contributed quite a bit, feeding it oxygen,” said Harford.

At 7:50 p.m. Saturday night, firefighters from the five departments were back at Robbins Lumber and this time, fire was creeping up an exterior wooden wall above the cement enclosure and moving toward the roof.

“In the end, Robbins moved the ash out of the building with a front end loader,” said Harford.

The 25-plus firefighters used their five tankers — one from each town — to continue wetting down the ash. 

The Searsmont Fire Department cleared the scene at approximately 12:30 a.m., Sunday morning, said Harford. 

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657