PORT TOWNSEND — Recycling bundles stacked outside the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill caught fire Wednesday in a blaze that was under control in a little more than an hour, according to an East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman and the company president.
No one was hurt. There was no immediate estimate of damage in the fire that burned several bundled bales of recycled cardboard.
Port Townsend Paper Corp. President Roger Loney said the fire began at about 2:30 p.m.
The mill’s emergency response team made the first steps to combat the blaze, he said.
Fire department personnel arrived shortly afterward, with about 25 firefighters from four engine companies, said Bill Beezley, department spokesman.
“We don’t know how it started, but we know it began in the area that is closest to the road,” he said.
“It could have been a cigarette that was discarded or a spark from one of the semi trucks.”
Only employees closest to the fire were evacuated, and mill production was not disrupted.
After battling the fire for about an hour, the fire department brought in a ladder truck and sprayed from above.
The situation was to be monitored for at least 24 hours or until it was certain that the fire was extinguished, Loney said.
Beezley said the mill was bringing in heavy machinery to move bundles of paper to provide better access to the fire.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
