PORT ANGELES — A smoky Tuesday night fire at the newly reopened Peninsula Plywood mill was caused by a malfunction in a large industrial ventilation motor above one of the dryers, Port Angeles Fire Department Capt. Terry Reid said on Wednesday.
Port Angeles Fire Department and Clallam County Fire District No. 2 were dispatched to the mill, 439 W. Marine Drive, at about 8:10 p.m. The fire was extinguished by 10:10 p.m.
The fire caused only slight damage to the roof, and the plywood mill was back in production on Wednesday, said Josh Renshaw, president of the mill.
“We are so appreciative of the fire crews because they were absolutely phenomenal,” said Renshaw. “There was an absolutely first-rate response.
“I’ve been around a few other mill fires in other places that weren’t nearly as fortunate,” he added. “There wasn’t nearly the professional coordination and response that I saw last night.”
Four engines, one ladder truck, one rescue truck, one medical unit and two command vehicles responded to the scene along with more than 30 firefighters.
Clallam County Fire District No. 3 covered medical calls while the other two departments responded to the mill fire.
The fire began in the motor and spread to several portions of the roof before the sprinkler system contained it, Reid said.
Port Angeles Fire Chief Dan McKeen said investigators are confident of the origin of the fire and that it was not suspicious.
“One thing we will do — which is typical for a fire with a large response — is that we will have a meeting with the staff at PenPly to critique the fire,” McKeen said.
He praised the Pen Ply staff’s cooperation with the firefighters.
“If their cooperation had been worse, the fire would have been much more significant,” he said.
Renshaw and his crew provided the fire department with maps of the interior, and pointed out the areas where the fire likely started, to guide the firefighters to the correct area.
Mill electricians worked with the fire department and Port Angeles city workers to isolate electrical systems in the area of the fire.
The mill, formerly known as KPly, was closed in November 2007. Klukwan, an Alaskan native corporation, permanently laid off the work force of 132 in April 2008.
Renshaw, a former sales manager at KPly, worked for two years to reopen the shuttered plant under a new name.
On the mill’s first production day, 124 employees were at work.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige. dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
