A historic flour mill in northeast Oregon was destroyed in a fire Wednesday morning.
According to the Pendleton Police Department, the fire at the Grain Craft Flour Mill in Pendleton, OR, started around 2:55 p.m. Tuesday, KHQ reported.
The Pendleton Fire Department responded to a report of visible black smoke and quickly extinguished a small fire.
Pendleton Police Chief Chuck Byram, the designated public information officer for the fire, told OPB that the flour mill initially caught fire Tuesday afternoon when there was failure in a sifter’s filter. Fire crews evacuated the mill without incident and put out the fire.
The fire reignited Wednesday morning around 4 a.m. when no one was in the building. According to a press release, the building became engulfed when dry grain and wood inside the building caught fire.
Images shared on Facebook show a massive plume of smoke and flames rising from the structure.
The press release refers to the building as a “total loss.” Grain Craft noted that 22 people worked at the facility but there were no injuries reported.
Grain Craft, Chattanooga, TN, provides premium bulk and bagged flours through 13 milling locations across the U.S. In June, the company announced it had been acquired by Baltimore-based Redwood Capital Investments.
