Day-long fire at Dragon

An industrial fire that broke out Sunday at Dragon Cement’s plant on Route 1 in Thomaston burned for much of the day before firefighters returned to their stations. Thomaston and Rockland fire departments responded to the fire that started in a coal bin inside the cement manufacturing plant, according to Thomaston Fire Chief Michael Leo.

Leo said large dust collector bags hanging inside the coal bin dropped onto motors, which ignited the bags. Smoke and fire began to spread back through the duct work into the main building, as firefighters tried to get to the seat of the fire. Terry Veysey, a vice president at Dragon Cement said on Monday that the company was grateful for the help of both the Rockland and Thomaston fire departments in extinguishing the fire.

Dragon Cement has temporarily shut down plant operations for a few days, which it had already scheduled to do prior to the fire, Veysey said. The Thomaston Fire Department has responded to a few fires at Dragon’s Thomaston plant over the past year, including a previous fire in an electrical room at the plant that was extinguished quickly and a minor coal bin fire that occurred last year.