Mill owner: We will rebuild

PHIL NELSON THE TRINITY JOURNAL Firefighters spray water on the Trinity River Lumber Co. mill fire Saturday morning. The fire destroyed several of the sawmill's main buildings, though some outlying buildings were spared. Trinity River Lumber Company owner Frank Schmidbauer plans to rebuild his mill in Weaverville, much of which was destroyed in a fire Saturday.

The announcement was made to anxious employees on Monday.

Rebuilding will be undertaken as soon as a strategy can been worked out with the insurance company, Mill Manager Dee Sanders said.

"It's going to be a major undertaking -- but the plan is to go forward," Sanders said. "We have an owner committed to that."

Completion will take four to eight months, he said, adding that a lot depends on what how things go with the insurance company.

"The loss is major," he said, "in the millions."

Meanwhile, this is a "no work" week at the mill, and the employees have been advised to file for unemployment. Layoff decisions are not expected until Monday, in part because some functions of the mill may be able to resume pending inspections and discussion with the insurance company.

An unidentified person on Monday walks through the aftermath of Saturday's fire at Trinity River Lumber Co. in Weaverville. Company officials have vowed to rebuild. The Trinity River Lumber mill is the largest private employer in the county and currently has about 140 employees.

"We're very concerned about our employees. Facing several months without work is pretty devastating," Sanders said, adding that the company will do everything it can to help them.

The blaze broke out at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and everyone got out safely. The probable cause has been determined to be accidental. An employee had been both welding and using a cutting torch on equipment inside the building that was destroyed. The employee was following normal procedure including wetting down the area, Sanders said.

Scott Alvord, interim chief of the Weaverville Volunteer Fire Department, described the firefighting effort by mill employees and firefighters in a news release.

Firefighters pour water onto the Trinity River Lumber Co. blaze while a tanker drops a load of retardant on the mill from above. Firefighters from all over the county — and beyond — responded to the Saturday morning fire. When mill employees discovered the fire, they attempted to put it out with fire extinguishers. It continued to build, and an employee tried to use the cabinet fire hose in the building, but it didn't work. Two automatic sprinkler systems that should have been activated by the heat also failed. The fire went up a cable chase and rapidly spread throughout the building.

The Trinity River Lumber Company and Weaverville Community Services District are investigating why the fire systems did not activate.

From the water district, General Manager David Van Denover has said the community water system was working, and any problem with the sprinkler system must have been an internal one at the mill.

Chief Alvord said the department was dispatched less than three minutes after the first 911 call, and the first Weaverville fire engine got onscene within three minutes of that dispatch. The Weaverville department had four engines and 20 personnel respond. Units also responded from the Lewiston, Douglas City and Junction City volunteer fire departments, and from Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service.

A sawmill worker moves logs away from a building on fire Saturday as smoke billows into the sky. Weaverville volunteer Chris Prindiville, who lives nearby, was on-scene quickly. Smoke was coming out of every building, he told the Journal, and he called for air support. Firefighters could not immediately get inside and focused initially on keeping the flames from spreading.

Alvord said firefighters "did an awesome job" with a fire that could easily have spread and turned to a wildland fire.

Stunned mill workers and members of the community got an up-close look at the firefight as air tankers dropped retardant and a helicopter filled up at the pond on the mill grounds to douse the flames.

"It's a disaster," said one woman whose husband works at the mill as she and their daughters hugged and watched from the highway.

bird's-eye view of the Trinity River Lumber Co. grounds after the fire shows the destruction of its main building to the right, but also shows additional buildings and stores of cut lumber which may have made it through with little or no smoke or water damage. This is a huge blow to the community, said County Supervisor Judy Morris.

"We will do what we can to help the mill get back on its feet," she said. "This company has been very committed to the county and the community and always reinvests in their company to keep people working."

The company had recently put in $3.5 million in improvements at the mill.

There is a lot of work ahead, Sanders said. "We've lost the main guts of the mill."

The fire destroyed the mill's main structure built in 1954, and along with it the main saw, known as the headrig, and three edgers. The fire also extended into the green chain and planer area, causing heat and smoke damage there.

Early this week, mill

officials were still assessing

the damage to other areas which might be put back in production. The pony saw used on small diameter logs was housed in a separate building and appears to be undamaged. The planer might be used, and the log yard will still be running. There will also be employees involved in cleanup.

The new steel building to the north suffered major damage to the computer rooms and hydraulics, and the building must be inspected by an engineer, Sanders said.

That building contains an optimizing edger and twin resaw which also will be checked out.