2-alarm fire burns old Snohomish lumber mill

SNOHOMISH, Wash. — South Snohomish County fire crews are at the scene where a large fire burned the old Seattle-Snohomish Mill in Snohomish.

The fire in the 9500 block of Airport Way was reported just after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. When crews arrived, they immediately went into defensive mode and requested a second alarm to summon more firefighting resources. In all, 14 engines and a number of ladder trucks responded.

Fire officials flew a drone and used thermal imaging in real time to ensure they were putting water in the right places.

The fire has since been knocked down, but firefighters will be there most of the morning monitoring any lingering hot spots.

"A lot of fire was contained to the building of origin here.  We used a lot of ladder trucks to get the water from up above -- flowing a lot of water in there to get it knocked down helped," said Asst. Chief Jeremy Stocker with Snohomish County Fire District 22.

No injuries were reported.

The Seattle-Snohomish Mill closed in the summer of 2015 due to low lumber demand. The building was being used to store mattresses, which firefighters said fueled the flames.

On Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Sea-Sno Mill Ownership sent KIRO 7 the following statement:

"We are thankful that no one was injured during this incident and we are grateful to the Snohomish County Firefighters who brought the fire under control and prevented it from spreading to any of the other structures on the site.  As most of the public is aware, the lumber mill  has not been in operation for several years but the space has been under lease by various tenants on a month-to-month basis. The building that was involved in this fire is currently leased to a tenant that sorts, separates and prepares for the transport of mattress materials to various recycling facilities to process them to their end life. To our knowledge there was no authorized personnel on the site at the time of fire. At this point we are not aware of what caused the blaze, and will be awaiting the results of the Fire Marshall's investigation into the cause."

Cox Media Group