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Two injured in Western Mass. paper mill collapse.

Online Niel November 12, 2024

Two people were injured when a building at the old Strathmore Paper Mill in western Massachusetts partially collapsed, according to state and local officials.

One person was airlifted to hospital. The other person was transported to a local hospital. Their conditions were not known Monday night.

The incident happened around 3 p.m. at the former mill complex at 268 Woronoco Road in Russell, according to Jason Forgue, the city’s building inspector.

State police and local police responded to the scene. State police removed the two people from the building, an agency spokesman said.

The large public safety response prompted police to order people to “stay out of the immediate area,” Russell-Montgomery police said in a statement on Facebook.

Local roads were reopened after the scene was cleared.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by State Police, Forgue said.

Russell is a small town about 8 miles west of the town of Westfield.

Tom Kulig, chairman of the town’s Select Committee, said police would release more details in a statement at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The collapse is under investigation, he said in an email.

Strathmore Paper Co. it closed several years ago, and its extensive complex of buildings were mostly abandoned.

In 2022, a massive fire, started by a welding torch, spread from building to building at the mill. The owner of the building was issued a violation notice for not complying with state fire code, according to the state Fire Department.

Adam Sennott can be reached at [email protected].