FORKS – In the wee hours of the new year, a 7,500 square foot Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) building was left in ruins by a towering inferno.
Under Investigation
Clallam Fire Dist. #1 received the alarm @ 12:19 am before reaching the 411 Tillicum Lane address to find the blaze in the DNR maintenance building and mechanics shop, according to Fire Chief Bill Paul.
Forks and Port Angeles are centers for processing what little available old growth forests remain on the Olympic Peninsula. Washington’s DNR is the official agency selling permits to private corporations profiting from the destruction of these forests. It has also condoned the BioMassacre of Clallam forests on behalf of a Port Angeles pulp mill’s application along with the diversion from a major local fish bearing stream to water the plant.
3 Dist. #1 crews and 1 from Dist. #6 (Chief Jeff Baysinger) fought the inferno for 4 hours, Paul said. No injuries were reported and the building was unoccupied, but destroyed. No estimate of the value of the building or its contents was given.
Besides a maintenance and mechanics shop, the structure also housed a shipment receiving area and information technology equipment. The building was the smaller of 2 on the property.
