August 17, 2018
T he C olumbia P ress
5
Construction set to begin on fast-food chain Stay healthy as smoke from
The company plans to build
The Columbia Press
A drive-through restaurant
Construction is expected to in the Warrenton Highlands has been in the plans for wildfires creeps into county
begin in the next week on a
Wendy’s fast-food eatery.
The
2,400-square-foot
restaurant passed its final
plan review, Warrenton’s
Community
Development
Director Kevin Cronin told
planning commissioners last
week.
shopping center across from
Home Depot.
The restaurant will have a
drive-through window, tables
inside the restaurant and sev-
eral more on a patio.
At its busiest times, the
restaurant could complete up
to 170 transactions per hour.
Warrenton Highlands when
the 52,000-square-feet shop-
ping center opened in late
2011. It is just under half an
acre and zoned general com-
mercial.
The Highway 101/Ensign
Lane intersection is the bus-
iest in the city.
Seafood: Plant destroyed by fire comes back to life
Continued from Page 1
Dulcich
remembered
“standing here on June 5,
2013, in the remnants of our
plant. That day, we said we’d
rebuild, and we have.”
After the fire, General Man-
ager Mike Brown and his
crew scrambled to relocate
to a temporary facility at
Tongue Point, in what be-
came known in the company
as “the seven-day miracle.”
Because of its fiercely loyal
employees and the company’s
commitment to them, Pacif-
ic continued to pay workers
their salaries and benefits
during the down time.
Dulcich also presented
62 of those workers with a
challenge coin, honoring a
tradition at the company for
recognizing key accomplish-
ments and special achieve-
ment.
“Everyone associated with
the rebuilding should be
proud, Dulcich said.
On Tuesday morning, work-
ers were unloading yellow-
tail rockfish from the Pacific
Conquest, a boat owned by
Stuart Arnold, who delivers
his catch for processing once
or twice a week.
“Having the new facility
is awesome,” said Arnold’s
wife, Tammy. “The fire that
destroyed the plant was
heartbreaking because it dis-
rupted and changed the lives
of the local fishermen. It’s
nice to have this facility here
open again.”
Above: Chief Executive
Officer Frank Dulcich (blue
shirt) thanks employees who
stayed with the company
during trying times.
Right: Sen. Betsy Johnson
speaks during this week’s
grand reopening.
Peggy Yingst/The Columbia Press
Those working the dock ini-
tially grade fish by size. The
fish moves by forklift to the
plant where it’s headed, gut-
ted and filetted before arriv-
ing at cold storage and im-
mediately frozen. When the
facility is fully up and run-
ning, automated ramps will
take the fish from the dock
into the plant to be processed.
Pacific Seafood Project
Manager Aaron Dierks led
visitors on tours through the
cavernous new building. At
78,000 square feet, it’s 2 1/2
times the size of the origi-
nal building. Just 15 percent
of the planned processing
equipment has been installed,
Dierks said.
The new facility is a leader
in environmental sustain-
ability, using a new system to
clean waste water while also
conserving water.
Pacific Seafood is the first
processing facility on the
west coast to use this more
environmentally responsive
technology.
“I can’t overstate how huge
this opening is for the com-
munity, for the 250 regular
and seasonal employees and
for the state’s economy,”
State Rep. Betsy Johnson
said.
“We’re literally standing on
the site where once there was
ashes and now it’s a state-of-
the-art facility.”
Smoke crept into
dren, all of whom are
Clatsop County this
at a greater risk from
week after high-level
exposure to ozone or
winds pushed smoke
particles in the air,”
from fires burning east
Lewis said.
of the Cascades into the
He suggested:
region, officials with
• Avoiding the out-
the Oregon Depart-
doors unless absolute-
Lewis
ment of Forestry said.
ly necessary.
There were no wild-
• Wearing a paper
fires burning on the North mask, available at all hard-
Coast. But weather can affect ware stores, can be helpful if
smoke conditions dramati- you must be outside.
cally during fire season.
• Avoiding all smoking, in-
Conditions can vary by the cluding marijuana, vaping
hour, ODF said. “Smoke may and e-cigarettes.
also affect one part of a re-
• Those with asthma, chron-
gion but not another. This ic obstructive pulmonary dis-
can make it difficult to pro- ease or other lung conditions
vide specific health warnings, should let health-care pro-
especially when conditions viders know if they develop
change quickly.”
an increased need for inhal-
There’s a countywide burn ers or have new onset cough-
ban for debris burning. Out- ing or wheezing.
door burning is allowed only
for those with burn permits.
Dr. Michael Lewis, a pulm-
onologist at Columbia Memo-
rial Hospital, suggests that
those who are sensitive to
smoke take extra precautions.
“Here at the coast, our air
quality has been classified
as ‘Unhealthy for Sensitive
Groups,’ which includes peo-
ple with lung disease or heart
disease, older adults and chil-