Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 7.16.14

12 | JULY 16, 2014 NEWS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
An explosion hit the Plum Creek Timber Co. medium density fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls on June 5. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Month After Blast, Plum Creek Fiberboard Plant Returns to Operation
Mechanical failure caused explosion and fire on June 10 that shut down plant
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
A month after an explosion and fire
rocked Columbia Falls, Plum Creek’s medium density fiberboard plant is ramping back up to full production.
On June 30, three weeks after the explosion, Plum Creek’s thin fiberboard production line 2 was restarted. Line 1, which produces thick fiberboard, was restarted last week. Both production
lines were shut down June 10 when a “catastrophic bearing failure” caused a fire and explosion that blew out one of the plant’s walls. No one was injured in the incident.
Since the blast, Plum Creek’s 180 fi- berboard plant employees have been working around the clock to repair the damaged facility. Besides rebuilding the damaged raw material line and facility, Plum Creek Vice President of northwest resources and manufacturing Tom Ray said the company has improved the fire suppression system at the plant.
“We’ve improved the system so that it will safeguard the plant and prevent similar incidents like this in the future,” he said.
The plant annually produces more than 200 million square feet of fiber- board used in furniture, doors and floor- ing, among other items. While the plant was being repaired, Plum Creek was still able to sell and ship fiberboard from its 10 million feet of inventory that was stored in the plant and not damaged in the blaze.
While the explosion and fire caused a fair amount of damage, much of it was due to the 1.5 million gallons of wa- ter used to douse the flames. The wa- ter soaked critical computer systems and electrical motors on the fiberboard press line. When workers returned to the plant the morning after the blaze, they found nearly 10 feet of water in the
pits below the fiberboard press lines. The submerged electrical motors have been removed and are being dried out and rebuilt or completely replaced. Ray said the company is still trying to deter- mine the cost of the explosion, but noted it has insurance to cover both damages and lost production.
Safety manager Shauna Dunn said employees reacted appropriately when the explosion occurred. At the time of the blast there were 66 workers and two contractors in the building. The explo- sion was centered on the raw product line and in the ducts high above the pro- duction floor, where most workers are located.
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