The report of smoke sent Chillicothe firefighters Monday morning to Milbank Mills at number one Brunswick Street in Chillicothe. The page was at 5 am.
Upon arrival, an employee stated he had just got to work and the basement area was full of smoke. He stated that it was in the area of a hopper bin. Two fire extinguishers were initially used in the area.
Chillicothe firefighters advanced a hose line to the top of the stairs but the employee asked if they could keep from placing water on it unless it was necessary. Fire Captain Tracy Bradley said two personnel donned breathing packs and took a thermal camera and shovels to the area. They found a large pile of mashed grain underneath the hopper that was extremely hot and smoldering.
Firefighters began removing the burned area and placed a fan to remove some of the smoke. The employee turned on the machine’s fan and watched the temperature gauge to make sure there was not any fire going up the vent. It was estimated two wheelbarrows of grain that had excessive heat were removed.
Firefighters advised the owner to keep an eye on it and no water was used.
While talking to the employee, he stated that they had been welding on another area of the machine yesterday but had waited several hours to leave to make sure there were not any issues. Milbank Mills employees were going to remove the rest of the debris.
Chillicothe firefighters were at the scene for an hour and twenty minutes.
