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Fire erupts in
Stevenson
September 21, 2007,
updated at 2:35 p.m.
By BEN MCCARTY and RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writers A blaze broke out
at an abandoned mill site west of Stevenson shortly after noon
Friday.
Emergency responders not already
battling a wildfire near Underwood scrambled to the scene. DNR
spokesman Chuck Turley said two helicopters had been routed there
and other resources were being shifted later.
Washington State Route 14 was closed
for passage as plumes of black smoke rolled out of the aging
buildings that were engulfed in flames.
The former Stevenson Co-Ply plant is
one of the High Cascade International Corporation holdings. The
Carson-based company also owns and operates Mt. Hood Forest
Products in Hood River County.
As of 1 p.m. the two helicopters
were on the scene and conducting bucket operations to attempt to
prevent the blaze from spreading. The fire engulfed much of the
mill of the complex in sheets of flame.
Smoke from the fire could easily be
seen from Hood River, and the smell wafted for miles across the
river.
Winds to the southeast carried the
smoke plume across the river, creating a haze on an otherwise
clear day.
In Cascade Locks, local residents
gathered at the riverfront to watch the firefighting efforts
underway across the river.
The blaze also left some evacuees
of the Broughton fire wondering how or when they were going to get
home.
Tony and Joanne Gross who were
evacuated from Underwood yesterday had stopped by Cascade Locks
Friday afternoon and planned on crossing the Bridge of the Gods to
get back home. They were pondering a different route back after
the Stevenson fire closed Highway 14 on the Washington side.
As the racket of helicopters rotors
mixed with squeal of train wheels rumbling through Cascade Locks,
occasional black plums of smoky rising into the hazy sky brought a
constant click of camera lenses on Thunder Island, where groups of
people gathered.
Some brought coolers and chairs to
the waterfront to observe, while others were making a day trip out
of watching fires.
Ted Eubanks and Sarah Kroescop of
The Dalles, were on their way to camp at Hermann Creek in Cascade
Locks after stopping to watch the Broughton fire this morning. As
they got closer to Cascade Locks they noticed the large plum of
smoke and decided to take their camping cooler to the river to
watch.
“We were just at the other one
watching them put out trees and then we saw the smoke and stopped
off here,” Eubanks said.
For more on the fire story see the
Sept. 26 issue of the Hood River News.
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