A fire gutted Blazzard Lumber in Kamas late Wednesday night and caused substantial damage to an “irreplaceable” saw from Germany worth about $1 million, according to the owner, John Blazzard.
“From the moment we were paged, and I live about a mile away, I saw an orange glow,” said South Summit Fire District Chief Scott Thorell. “There was already a well-involved fire in the mill.”
Firefighters were notified of the blaze around 10:08 p.m. and arrived at the Kamas lumber mill by 10:17 p.m.
“We were able to gain control pretty quickly,” Thorell said. “We had three South Summit Fire District engines, a tender and a wildland, a truck, and then we had a Wasatch truck and a Park City engine.”
Strong south winds caused the fire to spread rapidly and “create a large volume of fire,” Thorell said, but firefighters were able to contain the flames to the mill.
Thirty-nine South Summit Fire District personnel responded to the incident with an additional seven responders from other jurisdictions. Firefighters stayed overnight on fire watch, but they had extinguished the flames by 2 a.m. Thursday.
“The investigation phase is complete and the official cause was undetermined,” Thorell said Friday morning. “The point of origin is known. At this point, there have been no suspicious findings.”
Thorell said that he did not have an official estimate regarding property damage costs, but many expensive pieces of equipment were damaged or destroyed, including an “irreplaceable” saw from Germany that the owner of the mill estimated to cost at least a million dollars.
“It was a pretty substantial, if not devastating, loss for the Blazzard family,” Thorell said. “They’ve been a member of the community for 80 years. It’s pretty devastating. They’re not insured, so they’re struggling to find a path forward.”
Thorell said there were no injuries to civilians or firefighters. Blazzard didn’t wish to comment, saying the fire and damage were too fresh. The business is one of the oldest in the Kamas Valley.