Originally published May 27th, 2022
Updated June 10th, 2022
(KNSI) — The Sartell Historical Society is holding a Verso Paper Mill Day of Remembrance on Saturday, June 11th to commemorate ten years since the mill caught fire in 2012.
The event is from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the Sartell Community Center.
Historical society member Ann Doyscher-Domres explains some of the interactive displays set up.
“We will have an ongoing paper mill video presentation with some people whose folks worked at the paper mill. And we hope to have some former employees there. We’ll have a display of the layout of the mill and the paper making machines, and how that all worked.”
Doyscher-Domres remembers vividly the morning’s events before the explosion.
“I was part of the Memorial Day celebration in Sartell, which is right across from the paper mill and my husband was taking pictures. We left that, we went out for breakfast, came back to Sartell and saw this big, black plume of smoke.”
She said she had a son and daughter-in-law living in a nearby apartment. Initially, she worried it might be their building that was on fire. No one thought it could be the mill. Doyscher-Domres says the photographs maybe some of the last ever taken of the structure, which dated back to 1905.
The blast killed one and hurt several others. Verso never rebuilt the plant. Over a dozen fire departments responded to fight the blaze.
___
Copyright 2022 Leighton Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be broadcast, published, redistributed, or rewritten, in any way without consent.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!