Warehouse fire could smolder for days
By Dan Thesman on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
FINLEY – A warehouse fire that erupted early Sunday at Lineage Logistics, 224905 East Bowles Road in Finley, is expected to smolder for days. Shifting winds carried smoke Monday to surrounding areas.
Benton County Emergency Services advises residents in the surrounding areas to remain indoors and refrain from using heating or cooling units that draw the outside air into their homes, especially for those with respiratory conditions.
The Bowles Fire started at 5:15 a.m. inside a 525,000-square-foot frozen food warehouse. Embers from the burning warehouse burned adjacent grass, brush and trees which forced mandatory evacuations and required the mobilization of state fire assistance as homes and other structures were threatened. The evacuation order has since been lifted.
No injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Earlier Monday, what anhydrous ammonia was left at the Lineage Logistics plant in Finley was safely removed from the fully intact section of the facility where it was stored. Once the structure fire moved into defensive operations, Benton County Fire District No. 1 stated that the top objective was protecting that cinder block maintenance structure and keeping it as cool as possible.
The state Department of Ecology was on hand as a precaution while the ammonia was removed Monday.
Photo via Walla Walla County Fire District No. 8
