ST. CLOUD, Fla. --
Flames ripped through a local sawmill on Thursday morning and damaged several buildings.
| Video: Sawmill Destroyed In Blaze |
The blaze ignited in an industrial area in southeastern Osceola County between St. Cloud and the Brevard County line.
Firefighters from several fire departments worked to extinguish the blaze at the Kempfer Sawmill.
Officials at the Kempfer Sawmill said it's the largest cypress sawmill in the Southeast.
Tommy Tiggs is one of 40 employees who arrived to see their workplace burning.
"Everything that was in there to make lumber out of it is gone. The the flames were shooting out of the electrical room and it was almost like a blow torch they were so hot they were almost white," Hoppy Kempfer, who's father owns the sawmill, said.
The Kempfer family said the total loss is about $1 million. But all of the lumber that was not damaged is about to be shipped out.
"There's actually some bundled lumber in there that our employees got in there with fire recuse and their tearing those apart still smoldering hot," Kempfer said.
The rest of the employees picked up their checks and went home.
They'll be back on Tuesday to find out if they will still have a job at what once was the largest cypress sawmill in the southeast.
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