by Amanda Bacon – Updates by Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – A fire overnight at the McKinley paper mill in Port Angeles has been extinguished without injury to workers or firefighters, but the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Assistant Fire Chief Joel McKeen of the Port Angeles Fire Department said that at about 9:25pm, his crews were dispatched to an outdoor fire in the area of the retention pond near the mill’s cardboard yard.

Crews arrived to find that it was a cardboard bale fire with about 15 refrigerator-sized cardboard bales on fire and spreading rapidly. McKinley’s own fire team was already working to put out the fire, and assisted PAFD using excavators to break up the piles.

McKeen said the PAFD crews were on scene till 8:30 this morning, handing it over to McKinley, who will have heavy equipment and personnel working to further break up the cardboard bales and extinguish smoldering piles.

The estimation from McKinley employees is that over 420 cardboard bales were involved, weighing about 68 tons. Light smoke is expected be active and visible in the area for possibly the next 12 to 24 hours, if not longer.

(Photo courtesy of Jay Cline)