Medford Particleboard: Leaders in Fire Prevention
Timber Products Medford Particleboard performed a successful Mock Fire Drill in collaboration with the Medford Fire Department in December of 2024.
This is the third year the team has continued their new mock fire drill procedures in Particleboard. General Foreman, Nathan DeMartin, as well as Safety Manager, Adam Wasniewski, and Mill Manager, Nick Brown coordinated with the rest of the team members and other departments as well as the Medford Fire Department to develop and carry out this year’s operation.
2022 marked the year when Medford Particleboard decided to start shifting the ways they handled fire prevention methods. A wood manufacturing facility such as Particleboard could be more prone to fires, almost reaching the extent of accepting that fires are bound to happen at some point. As Nathan DeMartin claims, “A commonly expressed belief in our industry was that fires were inevitable in composite panel manufacturing.” he added, “Our plant manager at the time challenged us to disprove this belief. In his industry experience, he had witnessed the difference in outcome when a well-prepared and trained team responds to a fire at its incipient stage in comparison to how individuals and teams respond when they were not prepared.”
The mill succeeded in changing the company’s culture surrounding fire prevention. Some ignition events that had a high-risk potential were successfully shut down in time thanks to the implementation response of what employees learned during the mock fire drills.
However, this learning took time to develop amongst the team members. When the facility first started to implement the new fire drill approaches, the team stumbled upon a few obstacles along the way. People who participated in the drills were not used to the new methods making it hard for them to adapt to the new procedures creating a sense of confusion and uneasiness. However, as they continued with more consistent training, the following drills picked up momentum and more people got on board: “We continued to practice and then meet afterward to review what went well and what we needed to change. We became better and more refined” DeMartin stated.
Currently, Medford Particleboard is the leading facility in the company for fire prevention and mock fire drills. The training has been so successful that fire drills are often performed to show mill managers from other divisions their methods to carry them out so that they can replicate them back in their own facilities. The whole mill has done a great job at participating and creating a safety culture. Fire drills are now part of their regular operations with more to come! As Nathan puts it: “If there is anything the team here at Particleboard can do or help with, we are more than happy to do so. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!”
