Feb. 20--Firefighters using an aerial ladder truck rescued a Darigold worker who was trapped atop a 90-foot silo at the downtown Lynden milk plant as flames roared around him in a fire just after midnight Sunday, Feb. 19.
Fire Chief Gary Baar of the Lynden Fire Department said the man, whose name was not released because of federal privacy regulations, was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and released.
The extent of damage to the Darigold processing facility was unknown. Company officials could not be contacted Sunday.
Baar said a crew from North Whatcom Fire and Rescue's Ladder 63 stationed in Birch Bay was the first due on fire because Lynden's recently purchased 1991 ladder truck, with its 95-foot aerial, wasn't yet in service. He praised the speed and efficiency of the North Whatcom crew.
North Whatcom firefighter Danny Jensen and Lynden Assistant Chief Robert Spinner raced up Ladder 63's 105-foot "stick," then they bent and twisted some metal framework on the silo to free the Darigold worker and guide him to safety.
People who witnessed the rescue said it was something right out of the movies.
Bright orange flames were leaping high into the air as thick, black smoke billowed from a building below where the man was trapped. Baar said he was watching the fire from the command post and thought he saw movement near the top of the adjacent silo.
"I happened to look up at the silo and there was a hand waving," Baar said. "The whole back end of the silo was scorching hot -- flames were within about 30 feet."
Nearly 30 firefighters from Lynden, North Whatcom, and Whatcom County Fire District 7 in Ferndale were dispatched about 12:30 a.m. to the blaze at 8424 Depot Road, just two blocks north of the central business district on Main Street.
It was the second time that night that firefighters had been summoned to the Darigold plant, Baar said.
Although the cause of the midnight fire could not be determined pending an investigation, Baar said flames apparently spread to a building near the silo from a fire late Saturday, Feb. 18, in a 20- by 30-foot dryer where milk is turned into powder. That fire, which was reported about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, was thought to have been extinguished.
Such dryer fires are not uncommon, Baar said.
He said Lynden firefighters and Darigold engineers using special sensors determined the fire was out. On hindsight, Baar speculated that some of those sensors may have been damaged in the initial fire and may have allowed heat to move from the dryer into filters inside the building that Darigold calls a "baghouse," Baar said.
Firefighters were still cleaning their hoses and equipment after the first fire when the second alarm rang out.
"It's a lesson learned," Baar said.
Fire crews finally cleared the scene about 5:30 a.m., agreeing to meet with Darigold officials about 9 a.m. Sunday and inspect the damage. Darigold officials called 911 about 8:30 a.m. Sunday, concerned that material inside the building appeared to be smoldering.
"We just decided to soak it," Baar said.
Robert Mittendorf is a Herald copy editor and page designer. Contact him at 360-756-2805 or at [email protected].
Copyright 2012 - The Bellingham Herald, Wash.
