Updated 5:43 p.m.: Fire at Danville plant

WSLS News Staff and Danville Register & Bee Staff
Published: February 1, 2008

A small explosion sparks a fire outside of the Shorewood Packaging plant in Danville.

Danville Fire Chief David Eagle tells us a peace of equipment, inside the plant, jammed and overheated.  The equipment disposes of the byproducts of paper and cardboard by grinding the waste products into a fine paper powder, and pushes the byproduct paper dust through ductwork to a large metal bin outside the plant.  The part that overheated caused a spark to be pushed through the ductwork, and into that bin.

Chief Eagle calls what happened a “paper dust explosion.” Basically the spark ignited the waste paper powder, and caused a fire.

Chief Eagle says Shorewood Packaging’s safety measures worked as expected to contain the fire to the outside bin.  A damper closed off the bin from the plant, and a sprinkler system put water on the dust.  Eagle tells us there was no fireball or shrapnel.  Firefighters later cut a hole in the large metal bin to put a mix of water and foam on the burned paper dust.

No one is hurt.  Smoke from the fire forced employees outside.

An investigation is being done to determine what caused the machine to overheat.

Shorewood Packaging manufactures set-up paperboard boxes, folding paper boxes, paperboard mill paper products, as well as printing and writing paper.

More information as it becomes available.