Blaze Destroys Part Of Arkansas Sawmill
An early New Year’s Day fire destroyed a major component of a sawmill in Bearden that is the Ouachita County community’s largest employer. But the Anthony Timberlands Inc. pine sawmill and its 215 employees will be working by next week, the company’s president, Steven M. Anthony, said.
The fire was discovered about 12:30 a.m., about 30 minutes after a private security firm had made its hourly round of the sawmill property, he said. By the time an employee discovered the fire, it was fully involved, Anthony said. The fire was contained by 2 a.m. and “pretty much out” by 4 a.m., he said.
Fire departments from Camden, Fordyce, Harmony Grove and East Camden assisted Bearden volunteer firefighters in extinguishing the blaze. Authorities hadn’t established how the fire began.
“We’re not even sure where it started,” Anthony said. The fire destroyed the part of the sawmill called the band mill, the main department for breaking down large logs, according to a news release. Its operation employs a dozen people and accounts for about 15 percent of total mill production.
A newer processing facility for small logs, called the sharp chain mill, was undamaged, the news release said.
From Arkansas Online: arkansasonline.com.
Latest News
Housing Starts Come On Like Gangbusters
U.S. housing starts, both single-family and multi-family, came in hot in May at a combined seasonally adjusted rate of 1.631 million, a 21.7% increase above April. Single-family starts in May were at a rate of 997,000 an 18.5% increase over April, and multi-family was 624,000, an increase of 28% over April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development…
Robbins Lumber Acquires Two Sawmills In Maine
Robbins Lumber, Inc., based in Searsmont, Me., has acquired two sawmills from Pleasant River Lumber Co., expanding the company’s footprint from two locations to four locations. The sawmills in Hancock and Sanford, Maine, will retain all 74 employees between the two locations. The company says the acquisition will allow it to build upon its eastern white pine production, which the…
Luoma Announces Retirement
Longtime executive and manager in the wood products industry, for years with LP, Brian Luoma announced he is retiring at the end of 2023 from his position as president and CEO of The Westervelt Co. Luoma joined Alabama-based Westervelt as president and CEO in 2017, and has been instrumental in the company’s expansion of its lumber and timberlands divisions…
Maybe The Markets Will Surprise Us Once Again
Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief, Timber Processing June 2023 – If you didn’t notice it on the cover, your eyes are getting as bad as mine, but yes this is our annual U.S. Sawmill Operations and Capital Expenditure survey report. It doesn’t pretend to be as…
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Timber Processing Industry Newsletter reaches over 4,000 mill owners and supervisors.
Subscribe/Renew
Timber Processing is delivered 10 times per year to subscribers who represent sawmill ownership, management and supervisory personnel and corporate executives. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.