Operator Room at Former Appvion Catches Fire

A fire broke out at the former Appvion Paper mill in Roaring Spring on Friday, July 26, around 7:30 p.m.

Fire Chief James Musselman of Friendship Fire Company No 1 Inc. of Roaring Spring said the incident happened at the rear section of the building.

The fire was located in an addition to the main structure, in the operator room for the trundle, which he described as a long tube that spins.

Musselman said that there were computers in that room, and while there are portions of the building that still have power, there is none where the fire occurred.

"There was a human factor and involvement - there was someone there but we are not sure whether it was intentional or not," he said.

The area where the fire occurred was about 12 x 15 ft, and everything was a total loss even though there is no monetary value, Musselman said.

He said they were able to put the fire out quickly and there were no injuries.

Their biggest concern when fighting the fire was the asbestos that is all through the building, Musselman said.

All of the crew including Musselman had to have their firefighting gear specially cleaned to remove all of the asbestos from it, he said.

Musselman said there is still an ongoing investigation into how the fire started.

As he is also the fire marshall and council president for the Roaring Spring Borough, he is working with all parties involved to figure out what happened.

SafeCo, the company that owns the property and is in charge of the demolition, was notified of the fire by the few people they still have on site, Musselman said.

Crews from the company were off site working on another job and will be coming back to continue the demolition, he said.

SafeCo makes their money back by selling the scrap, but with the price of scrap being down Musselman understands why they decided to take a break.

He plans to call the owner of the property to get an update on when they expect to have everything torn down.

"They said it would be done by the end of this year, but I have my doubts," Musselman said.

Other fire companies that assisted Friendship Fire Company include: Claysburg, Freedom Township, Martinsburg, Hollidaysburg, Allegheny Township, and Williamsburg.

The Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal, AMED, and Hollidaysburg Ambulance were also on scene.