ILWACO, Wash. — A fire at the Port of Ilwaco that sent plumes of black, hazardous smoke into the air Monday afternoon occurred as people in the fishing industry were preparing for Dungeness crab season to begin.
The Ilwaco Landing facility near the mouth of the Columbia River started burning around 12:30 p.m. Smoke could be seen for miles.
Additional fire units from Raymond and Naselle traveled to Ilwaco to help fight the fire, according to the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office.
The county issued a community protection announcement, asking people to close doors and windows to protect against the hazardous smoke coming from the fire. As of 5:30 p.m., most of the danger from the smoke had passed, according to emergency management officials.
No injuries were reported.
By 6:30 p.m. firefighters were taking a defensive approach because the fire was not threatening the surrounding areas. The City of Ilwaco Fire Department said in a release on Tuesday that the remote area of the fire made it difficult to get enough water supply to fight the blaze.
About 8,500 crab pots on the deck surrounding the building made it even more difficult to fight the fire, the city said in the release. Over 1,000 crab pots were destroyed in the fire.
Officials have not released a cause for the fire or the total amount of damage.
Ilwaco Landing has been used for commercial crabbing and fishing, although it has not been fully staffed in recent years. Residents store crab pots at the facility, which are used during Dungeness crab season.
The Dungeness crab season opens Feb. 1, and pots can be placed in the water starting Monday.
”This town, Ilwaco, is a fisherman community," said Natasha Beals. "Crabbing, fishing, every single family - almost every single family - here is affected.”
When Beals heard about the fire she headed to the marina and started posting pictures and videos on her Facebook page.
”Earlier in the day there was hope," Beals said. "And then as the day got on, the hope turned into 'What are we going to do?'”
Heather Hall from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife said each commercial pot has buoy tags are unique to each license holder. She said while some of the pots may have survived the fire, the tags likely were destroyed.
"We'll do what we can to help fishermen who lost gear," Hall said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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