Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Stench plume
Posted By Ryan Burns @RyanBurnsy on Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 6:39 PM
Arcata Firefighters spray down scorched equipment
A putrid-smelling smoke cloud befouled Arcata's western skies Wednesday afternoon after a fire erupted in the old Beaver Lumberyard near the corner of 7th and L streets, and it had nothing to do with marijuana. Gas masked firemen doused the flames, but not before they had melted a few old tires and charred some Mad Max-looking mobile conveyor belt thingy, sending who knows what-all into the pink, innocent lungs of onlookers. Here's Arcata Fire Chief John McFarland: "There was some sort of demolition project going on. They were cutting up an old piece of equipment and didn't realize it had a fuel tank on it." Oops.
"They," according to an onlooker, were Arcata Scrap and Salvage. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. "It put up a heck of a good column of smoke," McFarland said. Personally, I would have described it as a noxious doom vapor, but he's the professional.
Speaking of Fires
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About The Author
Ryan Burns
Ryan Burns worked for the Journal from 2008 to 2013, covering a diverse mix of North Coast subjects, from education, politics and marijuana to human suspension, sex parties and amateur fight contests. He won awards for investigative reporting, feature stories and news coverage.
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