Fire DME

The Hickman Lumber mill in Emlenton, Venango County, which caught fire on Saturday, Sept. 28, was left in a damaged, but salvageable state, according to Gerry Rea, chief of the Clintonville Volunteer Fire Department.

“The building will probably be salvageable,” Rea said. “They’ll have a lot of repairing to do on the electrical and hydraulic side of things. I would imagine they’re going to be able to salvage most of the mills. They should be able to salvage them.”

The blaze was reported around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, and drew a response from fire departments in four counties, including departments from Marion Township, Eau Claire, Slippery Rock, and Harrisville in Butler County. Hickman Lumber is at the intersection of State Route 208 and Lisbon Road in Emlenton, just over the Butler County line.

According to Rae, the fire was under control in “about an hour and a half.”

Clintonville was the lead fire department responding to the fire. Rea said as of Sunday afternoon the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

“The state fire police is going to conduct an investigation,” Rea said.

Rea said no one was in the mill when the fire broke out, and no one was injured.

The lumber mill is part of the Hickman Woods family-owned lumber empire, which also includes a hardwood floor showroom on Emlenton’s Main Street, as well as a timber management subsidiary.

The company took to Facebook on Saturday to express gratitude to the fire departments who came to its aid, and to assure customers the mill would recover.

“There is a tremendous amount of damage, but thankfully, it is not a total loss. We have a lot of rebuilding to do, but the Hickman Lumber team that dropped what they were doing on a Saturday afternoon to show up and help was inspiring to see,” the company said on its Facebook page. “I know that with this team, we will rebuild and continue. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who showed up and everyone who sent their prayers for our company and family.”