Fiber Recycling Plant Destroyed by Early-Morning Fire in Dayton, WA

Date:  January 29, 2019
Location:  Dayton, Washington (USA)
Address:  606 Wagon Road, 99328

Type:  Potential Dust Fire

Fuel:  Unknown
Industry:  Fiber Recycling
Equipment:  Unknown

Company: Sustainable Fiber Technologies
Database Incidents:  None Recorded

Loss:  No Injuries
Capital Cost:  Over $1,000,000

Status:  Open
Confirmation:  Unconfirmed

Company Description:
According to the company website, Sustainable Fiber Technologies was established in 2015 to create paper from leftover wheat stubble. The company later expanded its capabilities to pulp non-wood fibers such as wheat straw, sugar cane, miscanthus, arundo donax, and more. Its process has been used to produce sustainable packaging, molded products, tissue and toweling, printing and writing paper.

Incident Description:
On January 29, 2019, the Union-Bulletin reported a fire at a pulp mill in Dayton, Washington.

Fire crews were called to the site at around 2:00 a.m. After fighting the fire for a short time, Columbia County Fire District 3 crews sought assistance from other departments, one of which had a ladder truck. In total, up to 40 firefighters were on site, preventing straw piles from catching fire and keeping the flames away from two fuel tanks.

The building, which sat on 3.2 acres that used to be occupied by Columbia Cutstock, was a total loss with a collapsed roof. The owner told the Capital Press that damage was valued at over a million dollars.

No injuries were reported and the cause is under investigation.

Sources:
Union-Bulletin
Capital Press