BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 1, 2023
A fire started inside Colby College’s biomass-fueled steam plant early Wednesday, damaging the building. Inside the plant, crews from Waterville’s department and surrounding towns discovered a conveyor belt carrying biomass wood chips that had caught fire. There were no injuries or deaths and the college is evaluating the extent of damage to the building, fire department officials said. Colby College’s steam plant primarily burns local forest products to heat buildings and water on campus, though oil is used as an alternative option and to augment biomass during cold winter temperatures. Officials from the Maine State Fire Marshal’s office suspect that smoldering wood ash, a byproduct found at biomass plants, ignited the wood chips on the conveyor belt.