Cowlitz Columbia Railway Warehouse and Locomotive Repair Shop Burns Down—Klog 100.7 News

It’s been just over 25 months since the massive chip fire burned for days at Nippon Dynawave. On Monday, another major fire broke out on Nippon property, destroying a warehouse and locomotive shop leased to Patriot Rail.

The Longview Fire Department said just after 4 p.m. Cowlitz 911 received reports of a fast-moving industrial fire inside Patriot Rail’s Cowlitz Columbia Railway warehouse and locomotive shop, located just inside the main gate to the right.

Fire crews from Longview and Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue arrived to find the building heavily involved. Defensive operations began immediately, and a second alarm was called for more support from neighboring agencies.

Longview Fire Chief Brad Hannig said the building was old and carried a heavy fire load due to its construction and contents. Firefighters kept the flames contained to the warehouse and shop, but the structure appears to be a total loss.

The fire produced a massive smoke cloud visible throughout the area. Longview Police and additional fire crews patrolled surrounding neighborhoods to ensure winds did not spread burning debris beyond the industrial site. The fire was declared out sometime after 8 p.m.

Hannig said most employees had left the shop around 2 p.m. when their workday ended. Everyone got out of the building safely and there were no reported injuries. Fire crews are returning this morning to investigate, bringing in heavy equipment to make the building safe to enter.