Update: Video of Carris Reels Fire

An explosion in a storage building caused a multi-alarm fire at the Carris Reels Company on Randolph Street late Tuesday afternoon.

The explosion occurred in a building used to store sawdust around 5:15 p.m., said Bill Ferguson, production manager for Carris Reels.

"Some guys who work here said it sounded like tires popping," Ferguson said.

Ryan Rossignol, who lives across Randolph Street from the manufacturing company, said , "My fiancee, Aimee Bousquet, said the reel factory is on fire, then we heard explosions and the cops told us to get out of the house."

Lindsay Pieniak, a Cox Communications employee, said she was driving on Hazard Avenue to a service call in Somers when she heard a loud explosion. "I had my radio on very loud and heard it over that," she said.

Firefighters from all five town fire companies were still battling the blaze at 6:45 p.m. A tanker truck from Somers was standing by.

The storage building was rebuilt in the 1970s, and stores trailers which are filled with sawdust via a pipe from the main plant, said Mark Zarcaro, public information officer for the Enfield fire departments.

Police closed Oak and Randolph streets to traffic as firefighters worked on the blaze. The roads were still closed as of 6:45 p.m.

Please return to Enfield Patch to get updates as this story unfolds.