Old Roseburg mill catches fire south of Anderson

Photo by Michael Woodward

DEMO CONTINUES: A bulldozer continued demolition May 5 after a fire burned the north wall at the former lumber mill owned by Roseburg Forest Products.

A wall of the former lumber mill owned by Roseburg Forest Products near the corner of Kimberly Road and Panorama Point Road caught fire at 11 p.m., May 4, according to Justin Smith, CAL FIRE information officer.

"There were flames from the ground nearly to the roof when we got there," according to Chief Andy Nichols of the Anderson Fire Protection District said when his crew reached the blaze.

Nichols, whose engine was the first on scene, said that the fire reached up the north wall of the structure.

Seven fire engines and eight water tenders from various fire protection agencies attacked the fire, which consumed only five percent of the 150,000-square-foot structure undergoing demolition, Smith said in a telephone interview May 5.

Numerous fire fighting personnel were dispatched due to the high potential for a larger-scale blaze, Smith said.

The fire was contained at 1 a.m. with $15,000 damage done to the structure, Smith said, adding that the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

Agencies dispatched to the fire included CAL FIRE, Anderson Fire Protection District, Cottonwood Fire Protection District, Shasta County Fire Department, Redding Fire Department, Happy Valley Fire Protection District and Millville Fire Protection District.

The mill site was initially operated by the Deschutes Lumber Company in the 1940s. The lumber mill itself was finally closed in 1994, according to Ken Scott, California district forester for Roseburg Forest Products, in a telephone interview May 5.