CA - Fire destroys Weaverville lumber mill building

At the height of the fire, two air tankers dropped retardant on the main building to keep the fire from spreading

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By Record Searchlight staff

Photo courtesy of Dan Malloy

WEAVERVILLE -- The main building of the Trinity River Lumber Co. was destroyed by fire this morning.

The blaze started about 10:30 a.m. in the sawmill off Highway 299 in downtown Weaverville, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Teresa Santos said.

"From what I understand, the main building is a complete loss," Santos said.

Fire officials are investigating the cause. No injuries have been reported.

At the height of the fire, two air tankers dropped retardant on the main building to keep the fire from spreading, Santos said.

"They bombed it," said Trinity River Lumber Co. controller Beverly Wilson, referring to the air tankers dropping the retardant on the mill building near downtown Weaverville. "It was pretty amazing," she said.

Volunteer firefighters from Weaverville, Douglas City, Lewiston and Junction City, along with Cal Fire, responded. They kept the fire from reaching log decks and stacks of finished lumber, Wilson said.

The mill employs 130 people in two shifts and is the largest private employer in town, but it doesn't run on the weekends, Wilson said. Those employees will be out of work for at least a week while lumber company officials determine the extent of damage.

"We're still assessing what's gone," she said early this afternoon. "I've been here since 1978 and we've never had a fire in the mill like this," she said.

The part of the building that burned was the sawmill that cuts logs into various sizes of lumber. The mill was built in the mid-1950s and has been upgraded through the years, Wilson said.

Firefighters planned to be at the mill the rest of day mopping up, said Jeffrey Hamilton, who washes the fire engines at the Weaverville Volunteer Fire Department and was at the station this afternoon picking up supplies for crews.

Additional Information

Web Site: http://www.redding.com/news/2009/sep/12/fire-destroys-weaverville-lumber-mill-building/

Category: Forestry>Mill News

Region: California

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