Firefighters battled a serious blaze at the closed Blue Heron paper mill in Oregon City on Saturday and remained throughout the night. Investigators will be onsite Sunday to try to determine the cause of the fire.
No injuries have been reported.
Clackamas Fire crews saw heavy black smoke coming from an abandoned commercial building at the south end of the mill property when they arrived at 2:06 p.m. on Saturday, according to Clackamas Fire District #1.
They ventilated the structure and attempted to search the building, but the fire grew quickly and the extreme heat inside forced them to leave the building and call in crews from Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue and Gladstone Fire Department.
Crews employed aerial ladders and waterways to spray the structurally compromised building from the outside. They tapped additional fire hydrants across Highway 99E to apply large amounts of water to stop the spread of fire, according to fire officials.
Hose lines were stretched across the highway and train tracks, and officials asked people to avoid the area around the old mill site to allow firefighters access.
The historic Blue Heron property, alongside the Willamette River, is being redeveloped by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which purchased the 23 acres in August 2019.
The property, which includes Willamette Falls, is part of their ancestral land, according to the Grand Ronde’s website.
One part of the renovation, the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, includes plans to construct a public riverwalk and involves the city of Oregon City, Metro, Clackamas County and the state.
Carrie Belding, a spokeswoman for the project, said the fire was in a building that is outside of the future riverwalk area.
“We’re grateful for the quick response by Clackamas Fire and other first responders as they try to get the fire under control,” said Belding on Saturday. “We are also continuing our work with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde ... to evaluate how to phase and scale the riverwalk project in a way that can meet the current funding constraints, our commitments to the public and Grand Ronde’s development needs.”
The Blue Heron Paper Co. was the last surviving mill on the site. The company closed the facility in 2011.
Three years later, private developer Falls Legacy LLC purchased the property and granted the Willamette Falls Legacy Project an easement, according to the project’s website.
The site was used as a location for the TV drama “Grimm” and stood in for the Grisham Mill in one of the “Twilight” movies.
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