The Western Excelsior fire likely was caused by a faulty ventilation fan in a sharpening shop, investigators said.
Mancos Fire Chief Tony Aspromonte said that burn evidence indicates a spark or heat from the fan’s motor was the probable point of origin for the fire.
“It appears that it started in a void of the ceiling, where it had time to build up heat and momentum,” he said.
The fire triggered an alarm, and Western Excelsior staff attempted to douse the blaze with extinguishers and a water hose stationed nearby for emergencies, but it had grown too large.
All employees were evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported. About 10 fire departments responded to the blaze, Aspromonte said, which was fueled by stacks of rolled erosion mats made from aspen shavings, called excelsior.
The main production facility, offices and storage areas at the company’s Mancos facility, 901 W. Grand Ave., were destroyed in the fire, which started just before 1 p.m. Monday. It was contained about 2 a.m. Tuesday but continued to smolder for a couple of days.
Several nearby residents were temporarily evacuated on Monday because of heavy smoke.
The large mill did not have a fire-sprinkler system, and the facility was not required to have fire inspections because the town of Mancos has not adopted a fire code, Aspromonte said.
The mill facility is partly within Mancos town limits and partly within Montezuma County. Neither government has fire inspectors, county and Mancos officials said.
Aspromonte said the all-volunteer Mancos Fire Department is tasked with fighting fires and responding to emergencies, and it is not equipped for fire inspections. The department does not have the budget for a program.
“I’m not opposed to the town establishing fire codes, but in order to be consistently enforced and effective, a code with fire inspections would need guaranteed funding,” he said.
Mancos trustees discussed updating town building codes and adopting a fire code at their Feb. 22 meeting but didn’t take a vote. They have not discussed it since then. The town uses the 2006 version of the International Business Code, according to meeting minutes.
Certain facilities such as schools and nursing homes are required by state law to have fire-safety inspections, and those are done by state-qualified inspectors.
Western Excelsior owners, based in Evansville, Indiana, traveled to Mancos on Tuesday to meet with Mancos fire officials and view the damage.
It is unknown if the mill, which was insured, will be rebuilt.
The company has been planning to build a 2,150-square-foot addition that would enclose the facility’s pellet mill in the company’s effort to reduce the amount of mill dust that drifts to surrounding areas. The company recently was awarded a $38,000 workforce development grant to provide training for 44 employees.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
