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Roseburg Forest Products resumed full operations of its veneer manufacturing plant in Weed, Ca., on Nov. 9, more than two months after the devastating Mill Fire on Sept. 2.
The plant’s 145 employees returned to full schedules after implementing new safety procedures, installing new ash-handling equipment, and conducting routine maintenance and planned capital improvements. Specifically, Roseburg:
- Removed the mill’s “ash mixer” that a manufacturer designed to mix and cool the mill’s ash with water.
- Installed a replacement mixer to mix the ash with water and cool the ash.
- Updated how the mill produces, stores and removes its ash from the new ash mixer.
- Updated emergency response processes.
- Conducted team member trainings for handling ash with the replacement ash mixer and a new storage facility.
“We carefully considered the concerns our neighbors, regulators, investigators and our community may have had about the resumption of full operations,” said Pete Hillan, spokesperson for Roseburg. “We’ve trained our team members, tested the equipment, and updated our operational protocols so that we are confident in safely resuming operations.”
CalFire and the Siskiyou County Sheriff have not issued the results of their investigations into the cause of the Mill Fire.
