A fire broke out Saturday morning on a conveyor belt at the Somerset Mill in Skowhegan which is owned and operated by Sappi.
At about 9:15 a.m. Saturday, fire crews responded to a report of a conveyor belt fire at the Sappi Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, Skowhegan Fire Chief Ronnie Rodriguez told NEWS CENTER Maine on Monday. The conveyor belt that caught fire was one that takes wood chips from where they are chipped to a storage facility where they are processed and stored, according to Rodriguez.
When fire crews arrived at the scene, they discovered the belt had burned through. Rodriguez said the fully-covered belt runs about four feet wide and 350 feet long and runs about 175 feet between the two buildings.
The involved conveyor belt also runs from "about ground level" to 150 feet in the air between the buildings, Rodriguez added.