Gutted Plummer Mill Torn Down After Fire Friday’S Blaze Destroys Sawing Side Of Mill

FOR THE RECORD (July 21, 1998): Ex-owner misidentified: Rayonier bought the Plummer mill from Pacific Crown Timber Products Inc. in 1995. The former owner was misidentified in a story in Sunday’s Spokesman-Review.

Employees, contractors and volunteers began tearing down the remains of the Rayonier sawmill here Saturday, unsure if they would rebuild from the second fire in four years.

Fire damaged the mill in winter 1994, but Friday night’s blaze was far more devastating. It gutted the sawing portion of the mill, where nearly half of the 112 employees work.

Crane operators hauled twisted sheets of metal siding into what looked like giant piles of crumpled foil gum wrappers. Blackened steel beams and fried wire conduit littered the smoldering sawdust.

Carloads of mill workers’ families and passers-by stopped along Highway 95 to survey the damage.

“It’s pretty depressing when you drive up to this,” general manager Ross W. Jewell said. “The people that were here at the fire had the adrenaline flow going, but there’s also a lot of shock and disbelief. There will be lots of phone calls and questions in the next few days.”

Up to 50 sawmill workers may be idled, but many others, ranging from loggers to retail customers, also will suffer.

The question on many minds: Will Rayonier rebuild?

“I think they will,” Plummer Mayor Harold Whitley said. “They’ve got a hell of an investment there, even with what’s left.”

No damage estimate was immediately available. The cause hasn’t been determined.

Whitley said most mill employees he’s talked to are optimistic the Connecticut-based company is big enough to rebuild and rebound, maybe even modernize the mill. Rayonier purchased it from Crown Pacific four years ago.

“Nobody hits the panic button too much around here until it really hits the fan,” the mayor said.

The sawmill will shut down indefinitely until insurance investigators and corporate officials can fully assess the situation, Jewell said.

Insurance adjusters will begin arriving today and company officials plan to meet with workers Monday.

Half of Rayonier’s operations - including the log yard, boiler, kilns, planer and shipping - were untouched by the blaze and will continue to operate, officials said.

The fire started about 6 p.m., a half-hour after the last maintenance employees left for the night, officials said.

Rick Schnebly, a mill superintendent, was towing his boat to Lake Chatcolet shortly after 6 when he noticed black smoke curling from the part of the sawmill where logs are brought in.

Schnebly said he raced back to the mill, directed fellow employees to call 911, and grabbed the firehose in an unsuccessful bid to douse the flames.

The fire began near two de-barking machines that had been shut down for the day. The machines strip fir and larch trees before they’re sent on conveyor belts through the rest of the milling process.

Despite having electric motors, bearings and hydraulic parts, the debarkers do not usually spark, Jewell said.

“But when it’s a hundred degrees out, everything gets pretty warm.”

Off-duty employees from as far away as St. Maries heard the sirens and rushed to the mill. Many stayed through Saturday morning to help firefighters contain the blaze.

For mill employees like Ken Johnson, it was the second loss of expensive personal tools in four years.

Johnson was driving by with his three sons when he saw the fire and stopped to help. His wife, Tami, was on hand early Saturday.

“It was sad to see them standing around it,” she said of the workers. “Some were crying, because there was nothing they could do.”