Firefighters said it may be as late as Sunday before they will be able to extinguish a fire that struck the former Star of the West Milling Company grain elevator in Kent on Friday morning.
No injuries were reported in the blaze that began just before 9 a.m.
Kent Fire Chief Bill Myers told reporters that an explosion occurred at the scene about three minutes after firefighters arrived.
A cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Located at 162 N Water Street, the mill is located next to the former Erie Railroad mainline, which is now used by the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway. Fire hoses were stretched across the tracks.
Myers said at one point that firefighters were hindered by water supply issues, which forced firefighters to reduce the use of water.
The City of Kent issued a water conversation notice in an effort to conserve water.
The mill was built in 1879 and has been a fixture in countless photographs made in Kent of railroad operations.
At one time, the mill produced hundreds of millions of pounds of flour.
Firefighters from several Northeast Ohio departments were at the scene battling the fire, including units from Hudson, Stow, Munroe falls, Ravenna, and Tallmadge.
Scott Budzar, owner of Scribbles Coffee, located near the mill, said his businesses and others in the vicinity were forced to close due to the fire. “It’s such a massive structure, too, and iconic,” he said.
The mill was reported to be oldest building still standing in Kent.
“It used European technology, and so it took over and it became very, very successful,” said Sandy Halem, president of the Kent Historical Society. “1879 until 1999, it’s a long time for a continuous business.”
Building owner Manouchehr Salehi told the Record-Courier the building was locked up and no one should have been inside.
Salehi said the fire could change his plans to convert the structure into a multi-use complex that would include businesses and apartments.
“Let’s find out what the damages are,” he said. “The structural integrity completely changes everything.” The mill complex includes nine buildings. It was purchased in 1992 by Star of the West Milling Company of Emmett, Michigan. Mill operations ceased in 2016.
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