Enfield lumber firm gets contract to stay afloat

ENFIELD – Cold Stream Lumber Co. officials have contracted with another firm to continue their planing operations and priced equipment to replace what was lost in a devastating April fire, but still await insurance settlements that will determine their next moves, a company official said Tuesday.

“We are just stuck in neutral at the moment. It’s a ‘wait and see’ for us,” Steve Hamilton, the company comptroller, said Tuesday.

The April 29 fire did an estimated $2 million damage when it destroyed the company’s sawmill and some office space at 542 Hammett Road. Neighbors reported hearing loud explosions, possibly propane torches or other flammables detonating in the heat. Firefighters from four towns stopped the fire before it hit adjoining buildings containing wood planing equipment and a kiln.

Hamilton would not identify the company that Cold Stream is providing custom milling services, but said that the contract, and the company’s surviving stores of uncut wood, would probably be enough to keep the company in business for another 11/2 months. Cold Stream secured the contract last week.

The fire forced Cold Stream to lay off 32 workers. Eighteen remain at work, Hamilton said.

State Fire Marshal John Dean could not say Tuesday when the fire investigation would be finished. Investigators met to discuss the investigation last week, and also visited the fire scene, as did insurance adjusters, as their work continues, Dean and Hamilton said.

“The two owners would like to have an idea when it [the fire’s cause] will be determined,” Hamilton said. “That will settle the insurance issues. They do have an idea of what equipment they want to purchase, but they cannot act on it until [the cause] is proved.

“Once we get a go-ahead, we will probably need six months to a year to get her going again,” Hamilton said of sawmill operations. “That’s what I am guessing.”

The town of Enfield took Cold Stream’s sawmill off its 2005-06 tax rolls to help the company recover from the fire, and state Labor Department workers have helped the laid-off workers in their search for new jobs. Local food pantries also have held special sessions with laid-off workers.

Enfield Town Manager Theresa Thurlow and the Board of Selectmen are seeking state grant funds and other aid that might help the company rebound.