Fire officials -- Log fire started spontaneously

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima fire investigators say the blaze that burned piles of logs Saturday at the former Boise Cascade mill site probably started with the spontaneous combustion of a sawdust pile.

"At this point, that's what we believe," Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Melcher said Tuesday. The huge blaze that sent smoke billowing over central Yakima "was an extension from a bark sawdust pile fire."

In the wake of Saturday's fire, the third in the past 21/2 months at the former mill, city officials on Monday ordered the wood chipping operation at the site shut down.

Officials said the closure may be permanent unless Dunollie Enterprises, which has been running the wood chipping outfit, can satisfy fire safety requirements.

The fire Saturday resulted in a power outage in the city's downtown core and extended as far as Terrace Heights and the Central Washington State Fair.