Her son, who works in the mill’s utility department, messaged her to inform her of the fire at the PotlatchDeltic Corporation mill and to let her know that he and his coworkers were safe, she said.

“I do know that the safety of the crews that are working is their priority,” the employee’s mother, who wants to remain anonymous, said. “They evacuated everyone immediately and kept everyone back until the fire department could get there.”

Multiple departments responded to the structure fire that was reported Friday morning, including Forsyth Township Fire, Sands Township Fire, and Marquette County Search and Rescue 131.

PotlatchDeltic is a lumber producer in the United States and owns more than 2.1 million acres of timberlands in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, according to the business’ website.

“I wasn’t (nervous) because literally they are trained on everything, including what procedures to take in case of fire. After all, there’s a lot of wood and wood chips and sawdust. They are told if there’s a structure fire to evacuate immediately, because a life is more important than the mill,” the employee’s mother said.

The Forsyth Township fire chief was unavailable for comment as of Friday afternoon.

The Mining Journal will update this story as additional information becomes available.

Jessica Potila can be reached at 906-228-2500. Her email address is jpotila@miningjournal.net.