Faribault Bio Wood Processing Fire Causes ‘Considerable Damage’

Faribault Fire Chief Dusty Dienst told KDHL that firefighters were called to a fully engulfed Bio Wood Processing plant about 3:45PM Thursday and were on the scene for about six hours.

Dienst says the state fire marshal's office has been called in because of the size of the blaze.

No workers were inside, and the chief was thankful for that.

He told me he was in the area and arrived at the scene on Bagley Avenue in Faribault within two minutes, and half of the building was fully engulfed already.

Dienst says the fire is "not suspicious" and he's pretty sure a dust explosion occurred. Bio Wood Processing makes animal bedding and mulch and the chief says the product can be volatile, much like grain dust.

The Faribault fire chief says three things trigger bringing the fire marshal in to investigate: a fire of a suspicious origin, fire resulting in death or injury and a large fire.

Dienst said a firewall between the two halves of the building saved half of the structure. He noted most of the machinery appeared to be in the portion of the building that did not sustain fire damage. He said the firewall consisted of six layers of sheet rock and it did exactly what it was supposed to do in the event of a fire.

Dienst said he anticipates a state fire marshal investigator will be at the plant Friday morning to confirm his findings. He told me there was, "not a total loss but a considerable loss" at the Faribault plant.

The Faribault fire chief hopes to join me live during our Midday Report beginning at 12:05PM Friday after going over the damage with the fire marshal's office.