Mattawa rebuilding at wastewater plant after January fire
The City of Mattawa Wastewater Treatment Facility had a fire destroy the blower room on Jan. 9, 2020. Work is being done to repair the facility.
Rachal Pinkerton/Columbia Basin Herald
Untreated liquid waste was spilled in the aftermath of the City of Mattawa Wastewater Treatment Facility fire on Jan. 9, 2020. Approximately 2,000 gallons was recovered from this ditch between the facility and Road U SW. The Grant County Department of Health worked with the city on the clean up.
MATTAWA — Rebuilding work at the Mattawa Wastewater Treatment Facility may be completed in the next few months, following a fire in January.
The origin of the fire has been linked to an electrical panel in the blower room, but the exact cause is unknown.
On Jan. 8, the area directly west of Mattawa, extending south and past Desert Aire, experienced a power outage starting at 6:51 p.m. Power was restored at 10:08 p.m.
But the load of all the heaters in the area attempting to turn back on at the same time was too much, and another power outage occurred at 10:24 p.m. The second outage affected only 300 customers. Power was totally restored to the area after 6 a.m. the next morning.
The wastewater treatment facility was one of the locations affected by the power outage. The outage may have been one of several factors contributing to the fire.
The exact time the fire started is unknown, but it is thought to have been around 2 or 3 a.m.
“We have an estimated time,” said Juan Ledezma, public works director for the city of Mattawa.
The fire was discovered at about 5:30 a.m. The blower room portion of the wastewater treatment facility was a complete loss.
The age of the building also may have been a factor in the fire. According to Mattawa Mayor Scott Hyndman, the facility is more than 20 years old.
The building did not have a surge protector, fire alarms or a sprinkler system. Ledezma said that for a building of its type, fire alarms are not typically installed.
“The nearest neighbor is a quarter-mile away,” Ledezma said.
He also cited the age and size of the building as reasons that no sprinklers were installed.
The city is taking measures to prevent a fire from happening again. Instead of having the electrical panels in the same room as the blowers, a separate electrical room is being built and will have air conditioning. The power and internet connections are also getting backups.
“We want a double safeguard to prevent anything like this from happening again,” Ledezma said.
