Fire injures two in Estonian mill

TALLINN - A fire broke out at the Kehra paper mill on Sunday with two men slightly hurt.

The alarm center received information at 2:48 a.m. that two paper machines on the ground floor of the Kehra Paper Mill had caught fire.

A spokesman for the North-Estonianrescue center told BNS that it was apparently a production line that had caught fire during the production process.

Sunil Marwah, CEO of Horizon Pulp & Paper, told BNS that the fire had started in one of the three paper machines and spread to a another one within a couple of minutes.

He said work was immediately brought to standstill. 

Five rescue teams and fire engines arrived on the scene. Before the rescuers' arrival, the workers attempted to put out the fire themselves and two men sustained injuries as a result. They quickly received medical assistance.

Marwah emphasized, however, that none of the workers and rescuers were injured in the incident.

The rescuers evacuated about twenty people from the production premises, put out the fire and cooled down the machines. The fire was put out by 6:29.

The managing director said that work continued as usual a couple of hours after the fire. The size of the damages would be determined within a couple of days. Marwa added that until the repair of the damaged machine, the output would presumably remain at 120 tons daily instead of the usual 185-190 tons.