Investigators are trying to pinpoint the cause of a fire that caused over a million dollars worth of damage to a potato shed near Bonanza.
The fire broke out shortly before eight Thursday morning at a potato shed on Yonna Drive.
Klamath County Fire District #5 Chief Darryl Longoria says it appears that the fire began in a shop area…
“We did an interior attack, found that there was a pickup on fire inside, and the flames were already up into the eaves.”
Chief Longoria adds that extremely cold weather hampered the suppression efforts…
“It was between zero and five below. And after a while, engines start freezing up, hoses start freezing up. As long as you keep the water flowing you’re okay, but when you have to swap tenders, that’s when we had the problems.”
Once the roof trusses began to fail, firefighters pulled back due to safety concerns.
Chief Longoria says that the building, and the potato crop inside are a total loss…
“From what I heard yesterday there’s roughly 100 thousand pounds of potatoes in there that’s lost.”
The Chief plans to meet with insurance, and state fire investigators on Monday. “We’ll see if we can peel back some of the metal, and get in and find a precise cause of the fire.”
Much of the smoke coming from the fire is actually steam from the potatoes. The fire is expected to smolder for several more days.
The Klamath Falls Herald and News quotes Bonanza Fire Chief Bob Tyree as sayingthe fire may have started when a diesel-burning heater was knocked over.
There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire.
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