The Ethan Allen lumber plant in Canaan was back operating in a limited capacity Tuesday after a major fire broke out the previous day, the company and Vermont officials said. The fire caused damage to the factory — which employs almost 100 people in the village of Beecher Falls — and required firefighting teams from two countries to tame the blaze.
The fire erupted around 10:30 a.m. Monday after a compressor failed at the furniture maker’s Essex County plant, sparking an eight-hour blaze that emergency crews from Vermont, New Hampshire and Quebec finally subdued in the early evening.
Vermont teams from Beecher Falls and Brighton were assisted by emergency responders from several other towns, including Dalton, New Hampshire; Colebrook, New Hampshire; Saint-Isidore-de-Clifton, Quebec; and Coaticook, Quebec, among others.
“We want to thank the brave fire crews that helped to put out this blaze and ensure the safety of all our associates as well as the safety of those who live around the plant,” Farooq Kathwari, president and CEO of Ethan Allen, said in a statement.
“We are pleased to report that no one was injured,” Kathwari’s statement continued, “and although the damage caused will require some repair, we have restored power to a good portion of the plant and don’t anticipate significant delays in production.”
Lindsay Kurrle, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, said in a written statement that the blaze required the factory to halt operations Monday but the damaged plant was up and running “in a limited capacity” the following day.
Named for the eponymous Vermont Revolutionary War hero, Ethan Allen Interiors was founded in 1932 and opened its Beecher Falls plant in 1936. The factory handles sawmill and machining operations and has about 95 employees, making it one of the largest employers in Essex County.
The company also has a furniture manufacturing plant in Orleans, which employs about 250 people, as well as facilities in North Carolina, Mexico and Honduras.
Kurrle said the company had already scheduled a “routine, one-week shutdown” for the Beecher Falls plant this month and now plans to use the time to repair damage caused by the fire and expects to be fully operational after the brief closure.
“Ethan Allen officials tell us the fire could have been much worse,” Kurrle said. “They say they are grateful to firefighters for knocking it down and to community members who supported first responders by showing up with food and water as they battled the blaze that took more than eight hours to extinguish.”
