PORT ANGELES — A fire fed by oil that started in an inaccessible area in a crawl space in the shuttered KPly mill smoked for about three hours before firefighters found and extinguished the flames on Friday.
The 67-year-old plywood mill on Marine Drive has been closed since Nov. 2.
The mill’s owner, Klukwan Inc. of Alaska, made the layoffs of the 132 employees permanent on April 28.
The cause of the fire was unknown.
“It does not appear to be suspicious in any way, though,” said Port Angeles Fire Chief Dan McKeen.
The fire was reported to firefighters at about 9 a.m.
Little smoke could be seen outside the vacant building on the west side of the mill.
Inside, firefighters faced dense smoke McKeen said.
The indoor fire sprinkler system kept the fire under control — but could not completely extinguish the flames — as the team looked for the source of the smoke.
The fire eventually was found in a vat in an inaccessible part of the crawl space, McKeen said.
“It isn’t just wood burning,” McKeen said at the time.
“There is some petroleum, so water itself won’t put it out,” he said, adding he didn’t know how much petroleum burned.
