MILLWOOD, Wash. — A chemical leak followed by the mixing of another unknown chemical led to a fire at the Inland Empire Paper Company in Millwood on Wednesday afternoon, according to Spokane Valley fire officials.
The fire caused people inside the building to evacuate and undergo decontamination.
Fire crews arrived at the paper company a few minutes after the call came in, and the incident was upgraded to a second-alarm fire. The chemical causing the fire did not react well to water, so fire crews started ramping up foam options.
As crews worked to put out the fire with foam, they learned there was a large "hot zone" around the paper company.
Everyone inside the building was eventually fully decontaminated, with no reported injuries at the time.
As of 3:19 p.m. on Wednesday, the fire is contained.
Spokane Valley Fire Captain Scott Crawford said the container responsible for the incident held a chemical used for bleaching. Fire officials learned the chemical was reacting with a secondary product near the container, causing a fire to start.
Spokane Fire Districts No. 8 and No. 9, as well as the city of Spokane, are assisting in containment efforts. The Department of Ecology is also on scene.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.