Firefighter killed, others hurt in lumber mill explosion

A firefighter is dead and at least 10 others are hurt after a fiery explosion at a lumber mill in Maine.

This is in Searsmont, about 95 miles from Portland.

The cause of the blast is under investigation, but an employee says a fire started in an area where wood shavings are packed into plastic bags, then spread to a silo filled with dust, which exploded.

Officials say all employees are accounted for.

“Buildings can be replaced. Employees cannot,” Robbins Lumber’s Catherine Robbins-Halsted said. “The fire department has done a tremendous job, and I thank them for everything that they have done.”

Officials say it could take days to extinguish this fire. The mill’s website says it’s a high-tech lumber manufacturer. It has been family owned for five generations, dating back to 1881.