Fire destroys Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer plant
A building that caught fire at the Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer and blending facility completely collapsed within a couple of hours once it caught fire. Firefighting personnel said part of the reason the building was engulfed in flames so quickly is that it was made entirely of lumber rather than metal due to fertilizer’s corrosive impacts on metal materials.
REBECCA PETTINGILL/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Grant County Public Information Officer Kyle Forman, right, speaks with Grant County Fire District Battalion Chief Robert Horst, middle, and another GCFD5 firefighter as smoke billows from the fire at the Wilbur-Ellis plant.
Smoke Billows from the Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer and blending facility southeast of Moses Lake on Sunday. Firefighting crews eventually stopped adding water to the blaze after it became unsalvageable and concern for washing excessive amounts of fertilizer and chemicals into the ground became the larger concern.
Columbia Basin Herald reader Jay Welch provided this photo of smoke coming off of the Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer plant Sunday. Residents nearby were advised to remain inside and close of sources of air from outside the home until the fire was under control.
MOSES LAKE - Sunday afternoon a building at the Wilbur-Ellis fertilizer and blending facility, located at 14903 Road 1.3 Southeast, caught fire and burned to the ground.
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