Repeated Fires at Southern Fuelwood Concern Fire Chief, Firefighters Injured in Most Recent Fire

NEWBERRY ‒ At 3:06 p.m. Monday, June 26, fire rescue units from Alachua County Fire Rescue, Newberry, and High Springs were dispatched to Southern Fuelwood, Inc., 28826 West Newberry Road. The business has been described as a large manufacturing plant with large metal warehouses approximately 30 – 35 feet tall with wood stacked to the ceilings on pallets. Inside the warehouses the wood goes through a heating process to dry the wood so it can be used for firewood, mulch, compost and wood chips.

The doors on the metal buildings are estimated to weigh 400 – 500 lbs. and are 25 feet in height. As firefighters saw smoke billowing out of the warehouse doors a firefighter from Newberry and another from Alachua County pulled the doors to open them. It is believed that the hinges failed which resulted in the doors falling onvb two firefighters.

Southern Fuelwood workers on the scene used a forklift to lift the doors off of the men as fellow firefighters pulled the injured men out from under the doors. Both firefighters were sent to UF Health. The Alachua County firefighter was trauma alerted to UF Health and suffered a lower leg fracture and rib fractures. According to Alachua County Fire Chief Harold Theus, surgery was performed to repair the fracture on Tuesday morning, June 27. The Newberry firefighter was treated and released on Monday.

“This fire required the assistance of 30 firefighters to bring it under control, which took approximately 1.5 hours in the hottest part of the day,” said Theus. “I would imagine it was still smoldering into the night.”

As to the cause of the fire, Theus said he believed it was accidental but “we don’t know the exact cause.”

“I have concerns regarding the frequency of the fires that take place at Southern Fuelwood, which require a lot of resources to combat,” Theus said. “I am concerned about the safety of our firefighters in extinguishing fires at that location. Since Jan. 1, 2020,” Theus said, “we have responded to 15 structure fires at Southern Fuelwood.”

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