PORT TOWNSEND — A fire in bundles of paper and cardboard stacked outside the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill last week was accidental, according to Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman.
But it is unlikely the exact cause of the blaze that broke out in the recycling bundles at about 6 p.m. Thursday ever will be determined, Beezley added.
A fire brigade made up of mill employees initially attacked the fire before firefighters arrived.
One employee suffered smoke inhalation and was treated at the scene, Beezley said.
After receiving oxygen for about 30 minutes, the unidentified employee drove himself to Jefferson Healthcare hospital, about a mile away, for further treatment.
The fire initially was fought by the mill’s on-site fire team before engines from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue, Port Ludlow, Quilcene and Naval Magazine Indian Island arrived.
The blaze was contained in about 30 minutes, though flames occasionally shot up — which is the nature of such fires, according to Roger Loney, president of Port Townsend Paper.
Roger Hagan, who will take over from Loney as company president later this month, was on the scene.
Hagan had no comment about the specific fire but said fires in cardboard stacks occur frequently and are easily extinguished.
Thursday’s fire was less serious than a similar cardboard and paper fire at the mill in August 2012, Beezley said Friday.
