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Port Hawkesbury Paper fire that caused four injuries nearly extinguished

June 21, 2019 – A fire that started yesterday at Nova Scotia’s Port Hawkesbury Paper (PHP) resulting in four injuries has been nearly extinguished.

A fire in one of the wood chip silos on the PHP mill site was discovered at approximately 7:20 p.m. (ADT) on Thursday, June 20.

The mill emergency response team and the Louisdale Volunteer Fire Department responded to the initial call. The nature of the fire required additional resources, and firefighters from four local fire departments were brought in to assist.

Two Port Hawkesbury Paper employees and two volunteer firefighters were taken to hospital for treatment. Both PHP employees have been released along with one of the firefighters. The second firefighter is expected to be released later today.

The fire is under control, and the PHP response team are making progress toward extinguishing it completely. External fire department resources are no longer on site.

Port Hawkesbury Paper is extremely grateful for all those who responded to this incident. As a result of their professional actions, the mill’s production has not and will not be impacted.

The mill is cooperating with the Department of Labour and Advanced Education in their incident investigation. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the mill.