PORT ANGELES — A “dust explosion” during routine maintenance caused a small fire late Saturday morning at the K-Ply plywood processing plant at 439 Marine Drive
It was out in about two hours, but firefighters were scheduled to stay on the scene until about 11 p.m. to watch for any flare-ups.
Acting Port Angeles Fire Department Capt. Kelly Ziegler said the fire began a little after 11 a.m. Saturday during semiannual cleaning of the plant’s dust collection system.
The “explosion” occurred while the dust was being purged from the system, Ziegler said.
Fortunately, the machinery used to collect the dust includes a container with “explosion panels” on two sides and on top, he said.
The explosion panels did their job of dissipating the force, Ziegler said.
But the impact also blew out ignited sawdust and started small fires throughout the area surrounding the dust collection bins, he said.
The company’s fire crew and Port Angeles firefighters contained the fires to that area and filled both elevated sawdust collection bins with compressed air foam to prevent further problems, Ziegler said.
One company firefighter was reportedly treated for smoke inhalation and exhaustion.