Fire Temporarily Closes Evergreen Forest Products’ New Meadows, Idaho, Sawmill

A fire last Monday (2-13-23) in the main sawmill building at Evergreen Forest Products—also known as Tamarack Forest Products—south of New Meadows, Idaho, has forced the mill to temporarily close, according to the Lewiston Tribune. The Idaho State Fire Marshall’s office continues to investigate the cause of the blaze.

The mill’s sprinkler system quickly kicked in, but that did not prevent the mill building from suffering extensive fire damage, according to the report.

In an interview with The Star-News, cited by the Tribune, Evergreen’s president, Rodney Krogh, said, “Two employees heard explosions and saw the fire around the mill’s two band mill head rigs. No major equipment was damaged, it’s mostly just electrical, control panels, computers and scanners. The roof and side of the building around the head rigs will need to be replaced.”

Krogh says he is optimistic that the mill will be able to resume partial production in about two weeks. Partial production would yield about 200,000 board feet of lumber a day, compared to the sawmill’s normal production of 400,000 board feet per day. Krogh noted that it could take three to six months for the mill to return to fill production.