POINT TUPPER, N.S. (From news reports) -- Two firefighters had to be rushed to hospital after working to put out a blaze at Port Hawkesbury Paper in Point Tupper, N.S.
"They were taken to Antigonish and then they were transferred to Halifax, the indication was that there was exposure to CO2," said Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm Beaton.
Those firefighters are expected to be out of hospital and return to the community later today, said Chisholm Beaton.
She said the fire broke out around 7:45 p.m. Thursday in a silo for wood chips.
The fire is out but the Port Hawkesbury fire department remains on scene to make sure there are no flare-ups.
It was not an easy fire to fight. Five fire departments responded and it took them several hours to put the fire out.
The Antigonish fire department, located about 60 kilometres, was called in.
When fire crews arrived smoke was already billowing out of the silo.
But the large metal silo was sealed and machinery had to used to remove the steel doors to give firefighters access, said Jim Cavanagh, chief of the Port Hastings fire department.
"It's a huge pile of wood chips that's in there smouldering and burning in the middle of a pile, so [we] hit it with water cannons and water screens," he said.
Machinery was then used to dig out some of the wood chips so firefighters could better douse the fire with water.
"When you mention the word silo there's all kinds of dangers in there as it is, but the mill has qualified people and we go in under their guidance ... because they're the experts on their site," said Cavanagh.
He wasn't sure how the two firefighters were injured, but Cavanagh said they were quickly removed from a structure on the site and brought to paramedics.
It's unclear how much damage was done to the mill or how the fire could impact production. CBC News has reached out to Port Hawkesbury Paper for comment.
As of last July, the business employed 330 people. and produced 360,000 tonnes of product a year for use in retail flyers, magazines and catalogues.
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