Longview firefighters are continuing their battle against a fire that is burning in a mountain of wood chips at a mill along the Columbia River waterfront.
In a Thursday midmorning update, Longview Fire Marshal Jon Dunaway said two fire engines and a helicopter were working to extinguish the fire at Nippon Dynawave Packaging. Plans for later in the day call for attacking the mountain of smoldering chips with heavy equipment, allowing firefighters better access on the ground.
The fire is continuing to produce smoke, but the smoke that had moved into Clark County has dissipated. According to the website airnow.gov, Clark County’s air measured 25 for particulates and 20 for ozone as of late Thursday morning, both in the “good” category. That compares with an “unhealthy” rating of 174 on Wednesday morning.
The Southwest Washington Clear Air Agency lifted its air pollution advisory Thursday following improvements in fine particulate matter levels in Clark and Cowlitz counties.
