Seeley Swan Pathfinder -

By Gwyneth Hyndman

A fire that was reported at the Pyramid Mountain Lumber Mill in Seeley Lake just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7, had largely been put out by mill staff by the time fire crews arrived, said Seeley Lake Fire Chief Dave Lane.

One fire engine, an ambulance, a utility vehicle and a command vehicle attended the fire in the 20x20 foot control room structure at the center of the mill property, after being called out at about 5:45 p.m. Lane said the structure was about 50 percent engulfed but that mill staff had been able to extinguish the blaze and it had not spread to other structures. The crew remained on site until the fire was completely out.

Lane said that the cause appeared to be the hydrolytic pumps under the control room catching fire.

No injuries had been reported, he said.

On Thursday, mill plant manager Todd Johnson confirmed that his staff had been able to put out the fire ahead of crews arriving with on-site fire suppression equipment and said that structure damage to the control room was minimal. The hydraulic pumps had caught fire because of an electric motor failure, he said.

The pumps would be down for about a week, but Johnson said there would not be any change in staffing going forward because of the fire.