Officials Search for 9 Missing After Longview Wa Explosion
Recovery crews kept searching Wednesday after the longview wa explosion at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview, Washington, killed two people, injured seven and left nine missing. A tank holding a highly-corrosive industrial chemical ruptured Tuesday, and Matt Amos of the Longview Fire Department said the scene “still remains active, and its extremely hazardous in the recovery environment.”
Officials said hundreds of thousands of gallons of white liquor spilled from the tank, with about 25,000 gallons still inside after the rupture. One injured person who was taken to a hospital later died of injuries, and seven employees and one firefighter were hurt at the scene.
Longview Fire Department
Amos said recovery work resumed early Wednesday morning after crews suspended operations overnight because of the risk of working in the dark. He said crews were trying to recover victims in a “slow, methodical and deliberate... while treating every victim with the greatest dignity, care and respect as possible.”
He also said, “we do run into some industrial hazards [that] for any level of equipment wouldn't be safe for us to continue.”
Cowlitz Fire and Rescue
Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said authorities “do not know where all nine are.” Crews searched the areas that could be reached, but Goldstein said it was still too dangerous to enter some parts of the facility.
Officials said a large volume of contaminants entered the Columbia River, while local drinking water and air quality remain unaffected. The plant is about 130 miles south of Seattle and employs 1,000 people, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Nippon Dynawave Packaging
The Longview site was also the scene of a major fire in July 2023, when piles of wood at the plant burned for days. The facility makes tissues, printer paper, cups, plates, cartons and other goods, and the current recovery operation remains tied to the hazards left inside the plant after Tuesday’s rupture.
