Date: April 17, 2020
Location: Rothschild, Wisconsin (USA)
Address: 200 Grand Avenue, 54474
Type: Dust Fire
Fuel: Wood Dust Dust
Industry: Paper Production (Pulp & Paper)
Equipment: Debarking Equipment
Company: Domtar
Database Incidents: This facility was referenced in a dust fire incident in August 2018.
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to the company website, Domtar designs, manufactures, and distributes a wide variety of pulp, paper and personal care products. The pulp and paper division consists of a network of 13 pulp and paper mills and 10 paper converting facilities which gives the company three million tons of papermaking capacity and 1.8 million air-dried metric tons of market pulp capacity annually. The personal care division, which was created in 2011 with the purchase of Attends Healthcare, manufactures products for adults, babies and children.
Incident Description:
On April 17, 2020, the Wausau Pilot & Review reported a fire at a paper mill in Rothschild, Wisconsin.
Employees noticed a smouldering fire at 3:00 a.m. and contacted the fire department. Firefighters responded to the incident, which appeared to start in the debarking unit of the mill’s wood room.
No injuries or equipment damage were reported.
Previous Incidents:
This facility experienced a dust fire on August 20, 2018, covered in Fire Crews Monitor Smouldering Dust Pile at Paper Mill in Wisconsin.
OSHA Inspections:
An establishment search turned up two OSHA inspections for this location but neither was flagged for combustible dust.
Sources:
Wausau Pilot & Review
