Whatcom firefighters keep two-alarm paper fire from spreading to nearby pet business
Firefighters from across Whatcom County prevented burning paper material from spreading to a nearby business in a two-alarm fire Tuesday north of Ferndale. The fire resulted in the nearby BNSF railroad tracks and Portal Way being temporarily closed Tuesday afternoon.
Crews remain on scene Wednesday, Sept. 8, to work any remaining smoldering areas from the fire, Whatcom County Fire District 7 Division Chief Ben Boyko told The Bellingham Herald.
District 7 crews were first called at 12:50 p.m. Tuesday to the 6900 block of Salashan Parkway for the report of an outside fire, according to the PulsePoint app.
They arrived to find that a large outdoor storage area full of paper ends from used paper towel and toilet paper rolls was on fire, Boyko said. The paper ends are used by nearby Healthy Pet, which makes small pet bedding and natural cat litter.
“The fire appeared in the paper product they had outside somewhere,” Boyko told The Herald. “It was mainly in that paper product, but there was some threat to the building at some point and a forklift that was inside.”
Crews from North Whatcom Fire and Rescue, Bellingham Fire Department, Lynden Fire Department and South Whatcom Fire Authority responded to the second alarm for the fire, Boyko said, while Whatcom County Fire District 17 covered the rest of Ferndale while District 7 was on the scene of the fire.
“It was a pretty challenging fire,” Boyko said. “It’s similar to a hay fire, where it’s hard to get to. We did have access issues with some of the apparatus and getting it to the right place we needed. A fire like that takes a lot of water and good positioning, but once we got it under control, it’s just a matter of spreading the material out and getting it to cool down.”
Though it was a little breezy Tuesday afternoon, Boyko said the lack of strong winds helped keep the fire mostly to the paper material and not spread to the building, though a few nearby trees did get burned.
No civilians, including employees at Healthy Pet, nor firefighters were injured in the blaze, Boyko reported.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office reported on Facebook that it closed Salashan Parkway and Portal Way due to the fire shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday, but that closure lasted only about an hour. Boyko said the nearby BNSF tracks were also temporarily closed.
The Whatcom County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause, investigator Jacob Johnson told The Herald, adding that with small fires continuing to burn at the site Wednesday, it is not yet possible to estimate how much product burned.
