Bingham mill razed by early morning fire Loss of major employer a blow to town

BINGHAM – An early morning fire Tuesday leveled a lumber mill that was one of the town’s biggest employers, leaving more than 40 people out of work.

Investigators from the state Fire Marshal’s office were seeking the cause of the fire at Morgan Lumber Inc.

No one was injured in the fire, which destroyed the business that Thomas and Bonnie Morgan had built over the past 13 years.

“We were up at camp when our son called me,” Thomas Morgan said later Tuesday as firefighters sifted through the smoldering ashes. “When I came to Carney Brook, I knew there was no sense in hurrying.”

Fire Chief Daniel L. Trembley, who was among the first at the scene, said the distance between the mill and the road was the biggest hurdle for firefighters, who needed three lines to get enough water.

Flames were shooting 30 to 40 feet in the air when Trembley arrived, and he said there was little hope of saving the mill.

“Within 15 to 20 minutes the roof had caved in. It was obvious the only thing we could save would be the house and the logs around the outside,” he said.

The Morgans’ combination home and office only a few yards away was untouched.

Firefighters from Bingham, Solon, Pleasant Ridge, Anson, North Anson and Madison battled the fire for at least two hours before bringing it under control.

Morgan’s son, Dean, who works at the mill, said the building and its contents would be difficult to replace.

“We just put in a lot of new equipment,” the younger Morgan said. “We’ve got one saw that is only a little over a year old.”

Thomas Morgan said he had partial insurance on the building and would do all he could to rebuild.

The Morgans had built the once-defunct sawmill into a successful operation that turned out 100,000 board feet of lumber a day.

The sawmill had gone through three owners, all of whom went out of business, before the Morgans bought it in 1987.

First Selectman Jesse Jacques said the fire is a blow to the entire community.

“They have been doing such a good job of late, and they offer good pay, benefits, security,” Jacques said. “It was so good to see them pull themselves up and start booming. If anybody can start over, the Morgans can.”