Commercial fire in Longview continues to smolder a week later

LONGVIEW — The almost week-long fire at a Longview paper mill had not been fully extinguished as of Monday morning, said Nippon Dynawave Packaging spokesperson Brian Wood.

About three hot spots were still active Monday but Wood anticipated the areas to be put out by the end of the day’s shift. The fire was first reported at 6:40 p.m., July 18, igniting large piles of wood chips and producing a vast cloud of smoke visible for miles.

The fire was reduced to hotspots over the weekend.

On Saturday, Nippon workers took over the responsibility of putting out hot spots using bulldozers and water in order to snuff out the bits of fire that remain in the wood chip piles.

Longview Fire Department announced Friday the withdrawal of some crewmembers and firefighting equipment from the site, as well as the removal of the paper mill’s fire-damaged conveyor system.

Dozens of firefighters responded to the fire for days, and helicopters dumped gallons of water from the air.

No employee that uses the site was injured. A Cowlitz County Fire District 3 received medical attention for heat stress during the first few hours of the fire. The Southwest Clean Air Agency issued an air advisory the day after the fire, that was meant to stay in effect until Friday, but was rescinded Thursday.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.