Day before fire, safety issues were on agenda

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A day before a spectacular fire burned through dry logs at the old Boise Cascade mill site in northeast Yakima on Saturday, city officials met with representatives of the site’s operator to talk about progress toward resolving the city’s fire safety concerns.

City officials who attended described it as a status report on efforts by Dunollie Enterprises to deal with spacing between log piles, one of several issues raised by the city after receiving a hand-written complaint in mid-June.

Dunollie Enterprises has been conducting a wood-chipping operation at the site, which Boise Cascade operated for more than a century.

The initial complaint warned of a general fire danger at the site where dried logs were stacked in preparation to be chipped. But the city’s review also raised issues with the spacing between the log piles, the adequacy of fire hydrants and methane monitoring.

The yard has been the scene of two previous fires this year, including one caused by lightning.

Assistant City Manager Dave Zabell said Friday’s meeting included a request that the company increase fire breaks between the log piles from 50 feet to the code requirement of 100 feet.

Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Melcher said Saturday that Dunollie had been making progress toward expanding distances between the long lines of logs, which ranged in length from as little as 150 feet to as much as 1,000 feet.

In any event, Melcher said, even had the greater distances been attained, it would not have stopped the fire Saturday from spreading to consume most of five or six of the long lines of logs.

“You can’t point to that and say if that had been done, there wouldn’t have been a fire,” Melcher said. “There was too much radiant heat and wind.”

The fire began in a sawdust and bark pile that was as much as 25 feet high, he said. Wind carried embers into the dry logs.

The yard is owned by brothers Melvin and Norman McDougal of Creswell, Ore., and Greg Demers of Eugene, Ore. The site has been known since its purchase from Boise Cascade as Yakima Resources.

Dunollie is conducting the chipping operation under a business agreement with Yakima Resources.

Contacted at his home, Melvin McDougal said Saturday night he had no information about the extent of the fire or the steps the company was taking to comply with the city’s requests.

“I really don’t know. I’m too far away,” McDougal said in a telephone interview before hanging up.

A return call to his home was answered by voice mail.

Yakima has a lot of interest in the 224-acre site as a premier commercial and retail development location because of its high profile along Interstate 82.

Just last year, the city received state approval to use a financing mechanism using sales tax revenues to pay for roads and utilities to serve the property.

An economic study released last year suggested development could generate $1 billion in direct economic benefits, including $500 million in property taxes, $68 million in sales taxes and nearly 4,000 jobs.

Zabell said Saturday that Dunollie agreed to increase the spacing between the long lines of dry logs, which are called log decks, stored on the property awaiting chipping.

He added the city agreed that complying with the request would take time.

“There is a lot of material on site,” Zabell said Saturday. “They wouldn’t be able to do it immediately. As they process materials they would meet compliance.”

Zabell, city Community and Economic Development Director Bill Cook and Melcher attended the meeting with Dunollie representatives.

Melcher said the operators had worked to restore service to the private hydrant system that had sat idle for years. They also provided large signs indicating the location of hydrants on the mill site.

But even with progress, firefighters did encounter some access problems Saturday. When the fire knocked out power to the area, a booster pump was lost that caused low water pressure. City crews were at the scene helping to boost pressure to fight the fire, which was expected to continue burning until this afternoon.

• David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.