Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Union Gap, WA – Fire at paper mill controlled by sprinkler system July 15, 2015 viking210 Yakima fire crews say a fire at the International Paper company in Union Gap Tuesday morning could have been much worse if it weren’t for their working sprinkler system. A news release from the fire department said people reported seeing smoke coming from the roof of the building. The fire remained on one part of the plant, a dust collecting hopper, because the automatic sprinkler system kicked on and helped maintain the flames. Fire crews put out the fire and cleaned up debris from the damage. The cost of the damage is not known at this time. Yakima firefighters say the cause was a hot ember that got into the dust collection hopper. The news release from the fire department also said the whole building could have been a total loss if they did not have a functioning sprinkler system in place.
