Manufacturing, Paper Mill / Saw Mill Port Townsend, WA – Sprinkler system handles small fire at paper mill September 14, 2015 viking210 Emergency personnel responded to a fire around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at the Port Townsend Paper Corp. No one was injured. There was minor damage to equipment and the machine was expected to be back up and running Tuesday night. General Manager Carr Tyndall, on vacation in South Carolina, said Tuesday afternoon that sprinklers had gone off when a fire started in a dryer section on Paper Machine No. 2. East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) was called as a precaution. Kevin Scott, director of sustainability at the mill, and Bill Beezley, public information officer at EJFR, confirmed that firefighters and medics arrived as support. Beezley said that crews were dispatched to “heavy black smoke near the northernmost smoke stack.” Responding crews reported that fire had broken out in dust on top of the second paper machine and that the mill’s sprinkler system had extinguished it by the time the crew arrived. “EJFR firefighters spent some time hitting hot spots and mopping up before departing 45 minutes later,” Beezley said. “Paper Machine No. 2 is down for now. And it’s probably going to be another three hours for cleaning,” Tyndall said of being told there was no significant damage. He said the sprinkler heads would need to be replaced. Tyndall said it would not surprise him if paper dust in the third dryer section caught on fire. He said that was common. Flames were initially reported being visible from a roof, then only black smoke was visible, as of 10:10 a.m. The flames had been “knocked down” as of 10:14 a.m., according to responder traffic heard on JeffCom dispatch. The mill has two machines that produce kraft paper products.
