Firefighters Battling Blaze at E.P. Pellet Company Caused by Explosion

Firefighters were battling a blaze inside a wood pellet manufacturer in Rumford Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 20, that was caused by an explosion at around 2:31 pm.

One man was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with unknown injuries, said East Providence Acting Fire Marshal James Bellamy.

At one point, firefighters were pulled out of the Inferno Pellet building, which manufactures wood pellets for home stoves, said East Providence Fire Chief Oscar Elmasian. The fire spread up into the roof area, making it unsafe for firefighters to knock down the blaze. The roof was reported to have collapsed.

The building is filled with wood chips, ground wood and chemicals to make the pellets. Elmasian and Bellamy said the fire is believed to have been caused when dust exploded from a spark.

Stephen Oliveira, a security guard with Avellino Security, called in the explosion to 911 after hearing what he thought was a tower at the manufacturing company collapsing at 2:31 pm.

“I heard a loud bang,” said Oliveira, who was stationed at the company next door. “I looked over and saw all the towers still standing and then figured it must have been an explosion.” 

White smoke was billowing out of the roof of the company, he said. Then it quickly turned into plumes of black smoke. 

An aerial ladder truck was pouring water into the building from a nearby street at around 4 pm. About 15 minutes later, the truck stopped dousing the blaze as smoke appeared to lighten. Then the water-replenished truck went back to work.

East Providence firefighters were joined by companies from Seekonk, Pawtucket and Warren. Fighting the fire at the former Nyman paper company was compounded by the face that it was believed t be filled with wood pellets for distribution for the winter season.