Fire destroys wood products factory near Sutter Creek
AMADOR COUNTY — A devastating fire destroyed a manufacturing plant in Amador County on Monday.
The Ampine manufacturing plant produces timber products and is one of a kind in the state of California. Now, more than 150 people employed by the plant are out of a job — and ten days shy of its 50-year anniversary, the facility is gone.
"You probably saw the big plume of smoke billowing. It was raining hot ash and embers," said Amador Fire Protection District Chief Walt White.
The Monday afternoon fire was spotted all the way from a lookout tower at Mt. Zion State Park. Crews responded quickly, arriving at the plant that was already engulfed in flames.
"One of the biggest challenges was the fuel load this plant has," Chief White said.
Ampine manufactures products like desks and cabinets. The materials used to make them are stored inside the building.
"You have thousands of square feet of warehouse that had high piled woodchips. heavy timber," Chief White said.
That added plenty of fuel to the fast-moving fire that burned through California's last timber production plant that employs generations of Amador County residents. Fire also spread to nearby vegetation, though officials said several spot fires were contained.
"It's just an incredible loss to the people of Amador, the people who work here. What do they do tomorrow?" said Amador County Supervisor Jeff Brown.
Brown said they'll work with the plant to rebuild.
"We can do an emergency declaration. Hopefully we can get the state to chip in and assist," he said. "We will back anything that is brought before us to assist Ampine, making sure they can get back up and running here in California. That's the most important thing is to bring jobs back here."
One firefighter was injured and taken to a local hospital. They are expected to recover. Firefighters will likely be on the scene throughout the week.