Massive pile fire prompts changes

COEUR d’ALENE — More than four months before a massive pile of reclaimed construction wood went up in smoke along U.S. 95 on Sept. 10, the business was issued three site violations.

Among the violations was that of screening or fence requirement aimed at keeping materials out of public view and secured on the business’ property.

Fire crews estimated the pile at 50 to 60 feet high — significantly higher than it would have been if the screening ordinance had been met.

“If that provision had been met, there may not have been a fire (or as large of one),” said David Callahan, Kootenai County’s community development director.

As a result of the fire, which drew the response of several agencies, county commissioners on Monday instructed Callahan and his staff to draft a conditional-use permit (CUP) requirement for industrial uses involving storage of waste or recycling materials.

“A way to stay ahead of land use problems of this sort is to require a CUP for this type of outside storage,” Callahan said. “If we had reviewed this use as a CUP before it began operations, we could have conditioned it to set materials back from power lines and property lines and reduced the height of combustibles.”

There are currently no regulations on the height of material piles.

“There ought to be limitations on how much can be accumulated,” said Commissioner Bob Bingham, who spoke with firefighters on scene during the fire.

Approval from fire departments and other agencies would be necessary to obtain a CUP.

“I think we have the ability to create special guardrails and limits on debris accumulation to prevent what happened from happening again,” Bingham said. “We can also revise the code so taxpayers are not stuck with remediating the materials (if companies go out of business).

“The recycle facility did not have much separation to other piles and not enough room to take the pile apart once on fire.”

Bill Steele, chief for the Timberlake Fire Protection District, said the cause of the fire appeared to be a mechanical issue on a chipping machine.

“They were having problems with it and took it down to the manufacturer to do work on it the Friday before the fire,” he said.

The other violations issued by the county were failure to notify neighbors of cargo containers on the property and operating a building without a permit.

Jeb Thompson, owner of the Site Solutions business on Old U.S. 95 near the Chilco mill, said his company was in the middle of addressing the violations when the fire occurred. It had contracted with another company to address the violations.

“The violations had nothing to do with the actual fire,” Thompson said. “It was really about the landscaping we were lacking.”

Thompson said he’s aware of other area businesses that have even larger outdoor storage piles.

He estimates the company lost about $200,000 worth of wood product that was headed to the University of Idaho to be used as an alternative fuel source.

Thompson said the business will not be in operation until the insurance issues are addressed. The company has been in business since 2004 and on the site since 2012.

“We plan to address all issues before we start back up again — if we do or if we can,” he said.

The company had as many as 10 employees working this summer.

Steele said the company has been barred from allowing more material onto the property until all issues are addressed. It is also required to have a night security guard on site until the fire district deems the fire completely out.

“We have been notified of a couple flareups,” Steele said. “There could be embers there for another six months. This is not a slam-dunk, finished thing yet.”

Steele said Site Solutions will need to address other piles, including an estimated 25-foot-tall heap of roof shingles.

“If there had not been very specific fire tactics at the beginning of the fire and the shingles had started, we’d still be out there today,” he said, adding he suspects some of the shingles have asbestos.

“We are 100 percent supportive of the county adopting specific restrictions and requirements (with conditional-use permits).”

Steele said fire flow requirements on the property can’t be met because the system specifically for the Chilco lumber mill had to be tapped into to fight the fire.

County officials said the fire, which caused visibility problems along U.S. 95 due to the large plume of smoke, could’ve been even worse if wind had picked up more and ignited a nearby propane storage area, power lines or the lumber mill.

Other agencies that were notified of the violations included the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Bonneville Power Administration and the Panhandle Health District.

Steele said he’s aware of at least two other businesses in his district that have material piles of concern that his department is addressing.