Montesano sawmill destroyed in raging inferno
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MONTESANO, Wash. - A four-story sawmill was destroyed in a massive fire that lit up the skies Saturday night over Montesano in Grays Harbor County, officials and witnesses said.
And now, in the fire's aftermath, about 100 workers at the Mary's River Lumber Co. are left wondering if their jobs are secure.
Firefighters from around the region responded to the Saturday night inferno at the sawmill, located on Highway 107, just south of Montesano.
But there was little they could do to save the mill, which is one of the major employers in the area. Instead, crews focused their efforts on preventing the flames from spreading.
A security guard initially spotted the fire and called 911. But the blaze quickly spread to piles of wood chips, which fueled the flames. Within minutes, towering flames were pouring from the building.
As the massive fire spread, the roof of the sawmill collapsed. The interior of the plant is gutted.
"You could definitely feel the heat, and you could see the plumes of smoke, and the ash. ... The conductors were starting to arc," said one witness.
No one was injured in the blaze. But the interior of the sawmill is gutted, and the company is out of business for now.
"It's an absolutely sick feeling - this is a big part of our lives," says General Manager Terry Smith. "We spend a lot of time here. It's virtually watching part of your home burn."
For other employees, it's not about feelings - it's about the paycheck,
"Jobs are hard to come by around here right now. There's not that many to be had," says worker John Odegard. "I'll have to wait and see. I'll have to be looking for a new job for all I know."
Even the fire chief felt a pit in his stomach as he was directing his crews throughout the night.
"When you come up to something like this, absolutely, your heart sinks a little bit," he says. "It's devastating. This is a small community, so it's going to be felt throughout the entire community."
The silver lining in the dark cloud hanging over the town is that firefighters did a commendable job keeping the fire confined to just the sawmill building.
Other major portions of the operation are untouched. The logs are safe. And hundreds of tons of finished product are clean and ready for shipment.
"We'll deal with it. We'll figure it out, and we'll go on and we'll fix it," says Smith. But he couldn't estimate when operations might resume.
Fire officials say they don't yet know what sparked the blaze, but it does not appear to be suspicious.
And now, in the fire's aftermath, about 100 workers at the Mary's River Lumber Co. are left wondering if their jobs are secure.
Firefighters from around the region responded to the Saturday night inferno at the sawmill, located on Highway 107, just south of Montesano.
But there was little they could do to save the mill, which is one of the major employers in the area. Instead, crews focused their efforts on preventing the flames from spreading.
A security guard initially spotted the fire and called 911. But the blaze quickly spread to piles of wood chips, which fueled the flames. Within minutes, towering flames were pouring from the building.
As the massive fire spread, the roof of the sawmill collapsed. The interior of the plant is gutted.
"You could definitely feel the heat, and you could see the plumes of smoke, and the ash. ... The conductors were starting to arc," said one witness.
No one was injured in the blaze. But the interior of the sawmill is gutted, and the company is out of business for now.
"It's an absolutely sick feeling - this is a big part of our lives," says General Manager Terry Smith. "We spend a lot of time here. It's virtually watching part of your home burn."
For other employees, it's not about feelings - it's about the paycheck,
"Jobs are hard to come by around here right now. There's not that many to be had," says worker John Odegard. "I'll have to wait and see. I'll have to be looking for a new job for all I know."
Even the fire chief felt a pit in his stomach as he was directing his crews throughout the night.
"When you come up to something like this, absolutely, your heart sinks a little bit," he says. "It's devastating. This is a small community, so it's going to be felt throughout the entire community."
The silver lining in the dark cloud hanging over the town is that firefighters did a commendable job keeping the fire confined to just the sawmill building.
Other major portions of the operation are untouched. The logs are safe. And hundreds of tons of finished product are clean and ready for shipment.
"We'll deal with it. We'll figure it out, and we'll go on and we'll fix it," says Smith. But he couldn't estimate when operations might resume.
Fire officials say they don't yet know what sparked the blaze, but it does not appear to be suspicious.
Oh my!! I just drove by there on Saturday afternoon. Wow.Â
Boy Montesano has really been in the news a lot this year.
This article falled to mention our Fire Chief's name is Corey Rux. He and our town's paid and volunteer fire department did their usual outstanding job last night. They were assisted by the District 2, District 5, Cosmopolis, and District 10 (Wishkah)  fire departments. The Montesano police department handled traffic and our City Crew, some coming in as volunteers on their off hours, worked to make sure the water flow and other services were up and running.  Â
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 @james dandey Take your meds. Please.
 @james dandey Like this is relevant to the story how?
 @james dandey Whoa, fella. You mentioned the FBI and DRUG Enforcement Agency were at your home?
Okay, that explains it.Â
One more thing....don't forget to keep foil on your head. We have to keep the government from reading our thoughts.
 @countyclerk  @james dandey looks like someone forgot to take their meds and put on their tinfoil hat
 @BlueJedi    Years ago Olympia had the Tin Man. Rode around town on his bicycle, covered head to toe in tin foil.
@james dandey Paranoid much?
oh great. Grays Harbor already has a 13% unemployment rate. Now this mill is up in smoke.....wow it's going to be a huge impact
I drove by this morning and seeing the amount of fire fuel, raw logs and finished product, that could have burned but didn't, just reinforced my pride in our local fire departments. This fire impacts not only the employees and their families, but other local business as well. From the truck drivers who supply the logs, to the businesses where these families spend their money. I certainly hope the company can rebuild.
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As a matter of fact this is my home town.
As evb said only the saw portion of the mill burnt. The planer part is still there. This mill will be rebuilt and the workers will be back.
good news.
I watched thist linehttp://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/mary%E2%80%99s-river-lumber-mill-burns.html
The mill was NOT completely burned to the ground! The Sawmill portion was. This is a portion of the mill not the entire mill. The planer mill did not burn down.
ah, good.
sucks. major employer in small town simply disappears? not good. hang in there.