 |
More air time, thanks to grant
District closing
in high school bid process
What's it take to
build in Newberg?
A trip
cross-country to celebrate the Harley
Fire
a lot of smoke,
little else |
A two-alarm fire at SP Newsprint concentrated on a
pile of shredded rubber; blaze quickly extinguished |
By Gary Allen, Newberg Graphic news
editor
E-mail Gary at gallen@eaglenewspapers.com
|
What appeared to be a cataclysmic fire at SP Newsprint Monday
evening proved to be nothing of the sort as firefighters arrived.
The two-alarm fire started at about 5:30 p.m. and sent a column of thick
black smoke into the otherwise clear blue sky. Onlookers gathered on the River Street side
of the plant to witness the blaze. When firefighters arrived, however, they discovered the
fire contained in an approximately 50-foot square by 10-foot high pile of shredded rubber.
“Once we got there we saw what it was,” said Al Blodgett, division
chief of the Newberg Fire Department. “When we arrived (outside the mill) all we
could see was that impressive header.”
The NFD, with help from firefighters from Dayton and Dundee, extinguished the
fire in less than an hour using foam, Blodgett said. He added that it appeared some
equipment adjacent to the pile sparked the fire earlier in the day and SP employees had
attempted to extinguish it.
“They thought they had it out,” Blodgett said.
The mill emerged unscathed from the fire and no injuries were reported,
Blodgett said.
The NFD fought the fire from a distance, choosing to direct a high-volume
nozzle atop its ladder truck onto the fire from above. The method, when added to the
foaming agent that allows the water to penetrate deeper into the flames and prevents
re-ignition, was effective on the blaze, Blodgett said. |
|
From Sept. 24,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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