The four-alarm fire which destroyed Kennebec Lumber’s sawmill in Greenfield last Saturday won’t affect employees’ ability to work.
Kennebec Chief Financial Officer Rob Martin said employee retention is the first priority and that all employees were at the site Monday morning.
“Everyone was put to work Monday,” he said. “We’re committed to New Hampshire and the region.”
Martin, who lives in Farmington, Maine, said he was working on one of his motorcycles Saturday when he heard about the fire. On Tuesday, he walked through the charred site where the 18,725-square-foot saw mill stood. He commended the quick response of multiple fire departments that came from as far away as Goffstown.
“The containment efforts were absolutely spectacular,” Martin said, referring to Kennebec Lumber’s undamaged supply of wood that stands near where the mill burned. “There were no water stains or ash on the wood. And no explosion of the propane tanks.”
Fire crews were called to the scene Saturday at around 1:15 p.m. after an employee of American Steel, located across the street from the sawmill, reported the fire.
Jessica Weeks, who has worked at Delay’s Harvester Market in Greenfield for 22 years, said she has seen a lot happen in town, but the fire Saturday was the biggest she can remember. The market is located on Forester Road near the corner of Sawmill Road.
“After the third truck came through town, we knew something was happening,” Weeks said. “It was impressive to see, and from what it sounds like they knocked down the fire pretty fast.”
Kennebec Lumber’s corporate office is located in Solon, Maine, and is owned by Dennis Carrier, whose family has been in the business for generations. The company owns three mills in New Hampshire and one in Maine that produces millions of board feet a year, as well as a dry kiln in Springfield. Prior to the fire, the site in Greenfield was producing 500,000 board-feet every four weeks, the majority of which is sent to a flooring mill in Solon.
Standing near the former entrance to the mill and log-procurement yard, Martin again praised the quick response of fire departments.
“They even saved that shed,” he said, pointing to a structure adjacent to the mill that appeared untouched by the fire. “We’re here to stay.”