Major fire destroys wood mill near Cottage Grove

SAGINAW, Ore. (AP) – A massive fire destroyed the Whitsell wood products manufacturing plant in Saginaw, north of Cottage Grove.

The Register-Guard reports the fire, which was reported at 7:36 p.m. Sunday, engulfed the mill within 30 minutes.

Lane Fire Authority Chief Terry Ney says flames could be seen from a half-mile away.

Billowing plumes of smoke rose into the evening sky and could be seen from Eugene, 20 miles to the north.

No injuries were reported.

After destroying the 169,000-square-foot mill building, the fire spread to stacks of finished lumber products on the roughly 46-acre site.

Ney said that with so much fuel to feed the fire, firefighters took up a defensive posture and had resigned themselves to pouring water on the log piles through the night, into Monday.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com