A12
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
keeping things in operation, so I
think they’ll be doing everything
they can to have things up and run-
ning as fast as they possibly can.”
Morgan added the city will fi nd
what it can do and expressed confi -
dence that other levels of govern-
ment — county, state and federal
— will be part of this eff ort, too.
“It’s a primary job creator in the
sense, without them, there are other
dominoes,” he said.
The 230 employees at Shearer’s
in Hermiston, then, are not the only
people aff ected. Also, there are
potato suppliers, planters, harvest-
ers, truckers and marketers who are
hurt.
“There are the people inside the
plant, but this has a ripple eff ect,”
Morgan said.
In addition to speaking with
Shearer’s corporate employees,
Morgan said city offi cials have
been in touch with county commis-
sioners, congressional representa-
tives and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. All
these government offi cials, he said,
expressed their support for return-
ing Shearer’s to shape.
Umatilla County Commissioner
John Shafer in an email to EO
Media Group stated Shearer’s is a
large employer in the region and
an important business in Umatilla
County.
“Shearer’s Foods is a vital part of
Umatilla County,” he said. “We are
working with the city of Hermiston,
Shearer’s Foods, federal offi cials
and many community partners to
do everything we can to make sure
the workers are taken care of. … We
want to do everything in our power
to make sure that Shearer’s and their
employees are back working as soon
as possible.”
A representative of Wyden’s
offi ce stated the senator met with
Shafer and tweeted a response.
“The impact from the Shear-
er’s Foods explosion cuts deeply in
Hermiston,” Wyden tweeted. “My
thoughts are with the victims, and
I’m thankful for the fi rst respond-
ers on the scene. I’ve told @Uma-
tillaCounty Chair John Shafer that I
stand ready to help in any way I can
to recover and rebuild.”
Morgan expressed some opti-
mism about rebuilding.
“There may be some salvageable
core pieces out there,” he said.
Shearer’s has a long road ahead
to get back to where it was before
the fi re, Morgan said, but it is pos-
sible and the city is committed to
helping.
Fire
Continued from Page A1
the fi re was at its worst, the walls
remained, he said. According to
Davis, this situation made it so fi re-
fi ghters had diffi culty reaching cer-
tain sections.
This was not the only problem
fi refi ghters faced, Davis said, and
fi refi ghters pulled out of the scene at
around 10 p.m. Feb. 22.
“We weren’t making much prog-
ress,” the operations chief said.
Water valves on the fi re trucks
were freezing in the cold tempera-
tures. Firefi ghters were “exhausted
and cold,” too, he said.
There were 73 fi refi ghters at
the scene, according to Davis.
These fi refi ghters came from “all
over” Umatilla and Morrow coun-
ties. Nineteen fi refi ghters, he said,
worked on water shuttles, bringing
much-needed water to the fi re.
The engine to the pump of the
facility’s water supply broke, he
said, and there was only one hydrant
fi refi ghters could access on the road.
The lack of water was signifi cant in
the attack on the blaze.
“We knew we weren’t going to
be able to put it out,” he said.
Firefi ghters worked to protect
large tanks on the property that store
chemicals, he said, and fi refi ghters
held the fl ames back from nearby
totes that also contained fl ammable
materials.
“We were able to keep it away
from that,” he said. “That was the
big thing.”
The Shearer’s Foods explosion
could have been even worse, he
said, especially when considering
air quality.
“Don’t get me wrong, whatever
was in there and burned was putting
up some nasty stuff ,” he said.
Looking at the wreckage of
Shearer’s, Davis said the fi re had
“burned through a lot of what could
burn.”
The work on Feb. 23
Davis said he left Shearer’s
at 2 a.m. on Feb. 23. He woke at
6 a.m. to take his children to school
and begin Day 2 at the fi re scene.
By 10 a.m., he was able to acquire
an excavator and bring it to the site.
Four or fi ve fi refi ghters were with
him.
“Today, we’re just working on
tearing down these walls and try-
ing to get what we can on the out-
side,” he said, motioning to twisted
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 fi refi ghters sift through the wreckage Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, to put out remain-
ing fi res from an explosion the day prior at Shearer’s Foods, Hermiston.
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Snow was on the ground Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, as workers continued to
clear rubble from Shearer’s Foods after a major fi re there Feb. 22.
remains at the scene.
The one fi retruck on the scene
followed the excavator, as fi re-
fi ghters put water on remaining hot
spots. Davis said they would not be
able to put out the fi res entirely.
“It’s not going anywhere,” he
said. “At this point, we’re just try-
ing to get to some of the stuff that’s
producing the darker, nastier smoke
and put it out.”
He said he was looking forward
to being able to leave the site and go
home at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, the state fi re marshal
and police were investigating the
cause of the explosion, Davis said,
and interviews were taking place
that day.
After fi refi ghters cleared enough
of the site to make it safe, investi-
gators would be able to enter the
grounds, he stated.
“That’s where it’s at,” Davis said.
“I think we still have a good idea
that it was a boiler explosion.”
He also expressed relief that peo-
ple escaped the fi re with few inju-
ries. He credited Shearer’s for a
successful evacuation, as well as a
full account of personnel. Because
Shearer’s was able to account for
their workers, fi refi ghters did not
have to search the fi re for victims.
“That took a huge weight off our
shoulders,” he said.
Shearer’s assesses next steps
Shearer’s Foods commented on
the fi re with an email and a press
release.
“Currently, we do not have a
thorough understanding of the
extent of damages to our facil-
ity or the impact on our business.
As a result, we are still determin-
ing the full package of support
for our teammates,” Joline Man-
ning, Shearer’s Foods chief human
resources offi cer, stated in an email.
“Their wellbeing is important to us;
we have created a centralized loca-
tion for our employees to gather
and gain access to resources. To
assist them in processing this event
we have established (employee
assistance
program)
services
immediately.”
She stated Shearer’s 230
employees from the Hermiston
plant site were accounted for and
safe.
“We do intend to take care of
our Shearer’s family,” she stated,
adding “senior leaders are present
in Hermiston supporting our team-
mates and gaining an understand-
ing of the impact of the fi re and
planning our next steps.”
“We are committed to providing
assistance for all impacted employ-
ees and will do everything we can
to limit the impact of the fi re on our
team members and the local com-
munity,” Shearer’s stated Feb. 23
in a press release. “We would like
to thank the emergency responders
and our local team for their eff orts.”
Government commits to help
Government offi cials voiced
their sympathy for the situation
and their opinions on what this will
mean for those aff ected.
Hermiston Assistant City Man-
ager Mark Morgan said the city has
been in touch with Shearer’s corpo-
rate leadership.
“They’re still assessing what
they think they’ve got here —
what’s salvageable and how they
can proceed,” he said. “They’re a
good business that has a need for
Madden Realty would like to thank all of our clients
that made our first year in business a success.
We look forward to helping past and future clients
to realize their real estate dreams in 2022.
- Joshua, DeAnn, Lindsey & Michal
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