On July 15, a fire broke out at Keyes Fibre, a company that makes packaging for fruit. It was not the first time.
Keyes Fibre constructs the fiber trays for fruit that people see when shopping at grocery stores, according to the company’s website. The fibrous material can be quite flammable and over the years the plant just north of Wenatchee on Highway 97A has had many fires.
In 2005 and 2006, the plant had several large yard fires in an area where they stored the finished trays, according to Wenatchee World articles. The fires reportedly burned millions of the trays and caused millions of dollars in damage.
The Chelan County Fire District 1 responded to an oven fire in the same building a few weeks before the July 15 incident this year, said Brian Brett, Chelan County Fire District 1 chief. They also had another small fire involving pallets and cardboard in March.