SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Roseburg Forest Products acknowledged Wednesday it is investigating whether a malfunctioning sprinkler system allowed smoldering ash from an on-site power plant to ignite Friday’s deadly Mill fire in Weed.
The company has a wood-fired “cogeneration power” plant at its Weed mill that produces electricity. Leftover ash from the power plant was stored in a concrete bin inside a giant wooden warehouse known as Shed 17 on Roseburg’s property. The ash was sprayed with water “using a third-party-supplied machine,” Roseburg officials said.
Weed city officials and numerous residents have said the fatal wildfire began in or near Shed 17 before destroying at least 100 homes, most of them in Weed’s historically Black neighborhood of Lincoln Heights. The fire killed two women.
