Overheated Auger Bearing Causes Fire in Paper Mill Silo

Fire officials are eying an overheated auger bearing as the cause of a storage silo fire that broke out Wednesday morning at a Thunder Bay, ON paper mill, Thunder Bay Fire Rescue told media in a press release.

Called to the Resolute Forest Products site in Thunder Bay for a structural fire at about 8 a.m., first responders determined that a bearing on the auger overheated, catching wood chips in a storage silo on fire.

Crews were aided by the firm’s employees who worked to remove wood chips with front-end loaders from an access door in the silo, news website TbNewsWatch.com reported. Firefighters were at the site for 18 hours.

Officials said no injuries occurred during the incident and that the structure received only minor damage.

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