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Fire
The wreckage continues to release smoke Feb. 23, 2022, at Shearer’s Food, Hermiston. Scott Stanton,
chief of Umatilla County Fire District No. 1, described the blaze that occurred Feb. 22 as the largest the
district fought in a decade.
of the
decade
Shearer’s Foods, local
governments commit to
helping the processor’s
230 employees
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 fi refi ghters shift through the wreckage Feb. 23, 2022, to put out
remaining fi res from an explosion the day prior.
By ERICK PETERSON • Hermiston Herald
T
he day after an explosion and fire at
Shearer’s Foods, Hermiston, smoke still rose
from the scorched ruins.
Umatilla County Fire Dis-
trict No. 1 fi refi ghters, having
spent a late night at the scene
Feb. 22, returned at 10 a.m.
Feb. 23, sorting through rubble
to put out remaining hot spots.
Fire offi cials said they expected
to remain working at Shearer’s
“for a while,” stating they were
not quite sure when work would
be complete.
Jimmy Davis, operations
chief for the district, said he was
weary, and he was not the only
one who felt this way.
“Our guys are exhausted,” he
said.
A hard day at Shearer’s Foods
Davis said the work was espe-
cially diffi cult on the fi rst day of
the fi re because the inside of the
building collapsed. When the
fi re was at its greatest, the walls
remained, he said. According to
Davis, this situation made it so
fi refi ghters had diffi culty reach-
INSIDE
ing certain sections.
This was not the only prob-
lem 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
progress,” the operations chief
said.
Water valves on the fi re
trucks were freezing in the cold
temperatures. 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 Mor-
row counties. Nineteen fi refi ght-
ers, 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
A3 Looking back at fl ood
dangers
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Snow was on the ground on Feb. 24, 2022,
as workers continued to clear rubble from
Shearer’s Food.
Tony Castro and Jason McCary of Emerald City Statewide
set up fencing Feb. 24, 2022, around the wreckage of
Shearer’s Foods, two days after the explosion.
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 pro-
tect large tanks on the property
that store chemicals, he said, and
fi refi ghters held the fl ames back
from nearby totes that also con-
tained fl ammable materials.
“We were able to keep it
away from that,” he said. “That
was the big thing.”
The Shearer’s Foods explo-
sion could have been even
worse, he said, especially when
A4 Our thanks to brave
fi refi ghters
considering air quality.
“Don’t get me wrong, what-
ever 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
A6 Heppner plans St. Patrick’s
festivities
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
trying to get what we can on the
outside,” he said, motioning to
twisted remains at the scene.
The one fi retruck on the
scene followed the excavator, as
fi refi ghters put water on remain-
ing hot spots. Davis said they
would not be able to put out the
fi res entirely.
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