community
august18
2016
3
The Day They Burned the Mill Down
Don Webb remembers
when Hollywood burned
down the O-A Mill
By Scott Laird
On April 19, 1958 the last load
of lumber left the Oregon-American
(O-A) Mill in Vernonia headed for Port-
land. It was the end of an era. After
three decades of operation the mill was
shutting down.
But the old mill still had one
more big day to come, two years in the
future.
The O-A Mill began operations
in 1924, and was powered by, what at
the time was considered, state-of-the-
art electric power. The mill caused a
population boom in Vernonia and for
the next thirty-four years was the major
employer for the community.
By 1957 all the old growth forest
The planer shed at the Oregon-American Mill was burned as part of the filming
of the movie Ring of Fire. Photo courtesy of the Vernonia Pioneer Museum.
had been logged in the region and the
mill, no longer necessary, began the slow
to be loaded with barrels of napalm that would cause large
process of shutting down.
explosions and a hot fire to create extra drama for the filming.
In September of 1960 Hollywood came to Verno- Because it was the end of the summer and still very dry in
nia for the filming of the MGM motion picture Ring of Fire, the region, Webb made arrangements for several local logging
which starred famous television star David Janssen as a small outfits to be standing by with earth moving cats on low boy
town sheriff trying to rein-in two teenage delinquents, played trucks in case the fire got away in any of the nearby timber
by starlet Joyce Taylor, and Frank Gorshin, who later became forests.
famous for playing The Riddler on television’s Batman series.
“I told the film crew they had to have it started by
Local citizens played extras in several scenes in the 10:00 am on the day of the filming while it was still damp
film. Local church ladies made lunch for the crew every day from the overnight dew,” explains Webb. “It wasn’t real hot
and local landmarks were used for scenes in the movie.
but things were pretty dry and there was a threat that we could
The dramatic ending to the film called for a climactic end up with a real forest fire.”
race against a spreading forest fire that included a Hollywood
The evening before the scheduled burning, the film
version of the town burning down.
crew loaded up the building with the napalm and prepared for
The film had its premiere showing at Vernonia’s Joy the big show.
continued on page 16
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Don Webb was the Vernonia
Volunteer Fire Chief in 1960
when Ring of Fire was filmed.
Theater on May 14, 1961 and then quick-
ly disappeared into obscurity, although
it is still fondly remembered by local
residents who enjoyed their brief brush
with fame more than a half century ear-
lier. Today you can rent a copy of the
difficult-to-find film at the R&S Market
or borrow it from the Vernonia Library.
Producers Andrew and Virginia
Stone made arrangements to burn the
planer shed on the old O-A Mill site as
part of the filming of the movie’s thrilling
final scene. Local resident Don Webb,
now in his late eighties, was the volun-
teer Fire Chief at the time and remembers
the day they burned part of the mill down
almost sixty years ago
Don remembers that the State
Forestry Service initially said they would
write the permits and take responsibility
for overseeing the burning of the planer
shed. But a week later they backed out,
telling Webb the structural fire in his fire
district would be his responsibility.
Plans called for the planer shed
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Photography
Scott Laird
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