Source: Sunday Republican (Springfield, MA)
ASHFIELD, MA – Roberts Brothers sawmill caught fire and was destroyed yesterday morning.
The fire department was called to the scene at 8 a. m., after an employee heard a noise and saw the 40-by-100-foot wooden building had caught fire.
Fire Chief Douglas Field said a diesel generator started the fire that ignited the sawmill. He said he did not think there was an electrical short in the motor.
About three quarters of the mill was burned beyond repair, Field said.
A second sawmill, next to the burned one, was not damaged.
About 45 firefighters from Ashfield, Plainfield, Conway, Buckland, Shelburne Falls, Hawley, Goshen and Shelburne Center responded to the blaze.