BAY MINETTE, Ala. — The Bay Minette Fire and Police departments responded to a fire at Standard Furniture on State Road Highway 59 Tuesday evening.

Fire Chief Phil Bryars said that two silos and an 18-wheeled trailer caught fire when sawdust ignited during a system purging.

"During the process, there was a fire,” he said in a telephone interview, “and the sawdust is highly flammable.”

According to Bryars, one of the silo caps, which weighed between 1,000 and 1,500 pounds, blew off and flew more than 50 feet from the silo. He said fire fighters were able to put out the blaze quickly.

"It was contained in first 15 to 20 minutes of us being on scene,” Bryars said. “But due to the nature of what the material is, we have to trace hot  spots because it just takes a small ember to start it again. Then there's an additional explosion or flash over.”

For this reason, a couple of fire fighters stayed on location Tuesday night. Thanks to the precaution, the pair put out an additional fire that started in the pipes during the night Tuesday.

According to Bryars, Standard Furniture must now remove approximately 400 bags of dust from each silo before officials can determine the cause of the fire.

Bryars said he expects a determination Thursday.