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Genesis Fire Quickly Contained

   Written by on February 9, 2017 at 10:53 am

By Averett Jones, Editor

KEYSVILLE – Monday afternoon at 1:41 p.m. area fire companies were called to 8818 Church Street in Keysville for a reported industrial fire.  Upon arrival to the Church Street address it appeared the fire was in the center of the building. Actually, the fire was in the sawdust dump at the back of the building on Wilson Street.

Fire Departments from Keysville, Drakes Branch, Meherrin, Charlotte Court House, Hampden Sydney and Bacon District responded with Bacon and Hampden-Sydney being cancelled as the fire was under control before they arrived.

The sawdust trailer, which belonged to Campbell Trucking of Keysville, was removed from the dump. The trailer was pulled to Wilson Street where additional water was sprayed but the dust continued to smolder.

At the same time, another crew attacked the fire in the sawdust dump. The trailer was then hauled to CWT Trucking in Drakes Branch where firefighters unsuccessfully attempted to dump it. It was then left in a secure location.

According to Garet Bosiger of Genesis, the cause of the fire is believed to be a seized bearing in a 150-horsepower blower motor in the bag house (sawdust filter) that ignited the dust in the trailer. Genesis was closed until Wednesday morning for repairs.  Bosiger also reported the fire in the bag house reignited on Monday night but was quickly extinguished.

“I cannot say enough good about these guys,” Bosiger said about the fire departments. “They were topnotch.”

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