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Sam Penrod Reporting A logging company in Parowan is mostly ashes tonight after a fire caused millions of dollars in damage.
Todd Hohbein, Deputy State Fire Marshal: "It had the potential to be an absolute catastrophe; it could have spread to the vast majority of the town of Parowan the way the winds were blowing."
The blaze was reported early this morning, but when firefighters arrived, there was nothing they could do. It started at a lumberyard in Parowan, just north of Cedar City.
Hot coals and ashes are all that is left in the lumber yard that just 24 hours ago had stacks and stacks of timber, logged from the nearby mountains.
It is a much different story than it was this morning, when the flames were nearly a hundred feet in the air. You could say it was a giant campfire then; now it is full of hot coals. It is a fire that has been devastating to the business.
They are just starting to total the damage, which may be as much as two million dollars.
When Parowan Volunteer fire fighters got the call at 5:00 this morning, that the timber company west of town was on fire, they could not have imagined how bad it was going to be.
Albert Orton, Parowan Fire Chief: "This is by far the most expensive fire, the biggest fire, and caused more problems than any other fire I've had in Parawon City."
The fire was completely out of control when firefighters arrived. All they could do was try and keep the fire contained and away from nearby homes. That meant hundreds and hundreds of logs along with heavy machinery could not be saved.
Albert Orton: " With the equipment and everything, I would say we are at two million dollars or more."
Fire investigators blame the fire on a burn pit. On Friday, the company was burning scrap lumber, which for a time got out of control.
Todd Hohbein: "The embers from that fire probably got lodged in the large piles of lumber, and that started the fire that we had this morning."
What made this fire even more difficult to fight were the high winds, estimated to be more than 30 miles per hour. Heavy machinery was brought in this afternoon to try and break the wood piles apart, making it easier to put the fire out. It's tough duty for those operating the machinery.
Wade Adams, Iron County Road Dept.: "It's hot, smoky, the smoke gets in the cab and there's nowhere for it to go."
Firefighters responded from all over Iron County, including Parowan, Paragonah, Brian Head and Cedar City. It was a fire Parowan could not have handled by itself.
Jay Robinson, Mayor of Parowan: "Essentially, the cooperation effort of the fire departments is very commendable."
Certainly a devastating loss today here in Iron County.
