Fire breaks out at bark mill

A fire broke out at the Mountain West Bark on Thursday night. Firefighters from the Superior Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire between 7 and 8 p.m. according to Fire Chief John Woodland. Firefighters from the St. Regis Department also were out twice to assist crews with the burn. The fire was still burning at about 5 p.m. on Friday night, creating a heavy smoke in the valley.

"Basically some of the bigger cedar piles at the bark mill caught on fire," Woodland said. "Sometimes this stuff gets piled too deep, too thick and there's a natural heating that then spontaneously combusts."

The fire was burning about three acres on Friday night and Woodland said that with the available fuels firefighters could be tending to the fire for days.

"It's a little over three acres. And while there are some gaps, these piles are thirty, forty feet high and at this point, it's turning into a long, drawn out process," Woodland said.

Wind is a huge concern for the firefighters. A light wind on Friday morning ended up setting some brush on fire, but the crews were able to catch it. Woodland said that conditions for fighting the fire are making it harder for them to battle it especially when there's lots of smoke and chips are blowing.

"We can't physically get in real close because it pushes us back out," Woodland said. "We're looking at trying to keep in from spreading at this point."

Mill employees have also been assisting with the fire and Woodland said that the Forest Service is standing by should the fire spread out into the forest. There's a lot of smoke and smoldering embers. Woodland said that water is coming from Trout Creek, being pumped out, and that they have long hoses and wet rays working on the fire.

"We're moving an awful lot more water. We're basically raising the humidity," Woodland said.

Woodland said that when the call came in they knew they weren't going to catch it. The mill is located east, outside of Superior on Diamond Road.

"This is going to be a long, hard job," Woodland said. "People are going to see smoke for quite a while."