Multiple people were injured early Tuesday when a vat of chemical treatment product imploded at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility in Longview, Washington, sending firefighters and a hazardous materials team racing to Industrial Way. The Longview Fire Department said the incident was reported at 7:18 a.m. at 3401 Industrial Way, and officials later described the scene as a mass casualty response.
First responders decontaminated injured people and took them to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview and PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington. Several people suffered chemical burns and inhalation injuries, officials said, but the full extent of the injuries was not immediately known. About 40 firefighters and paramedics responded, along with a regional hazmat team, and crews worked with Nippon employees to mitigate the product and container involved.
The facility sits in the 3400 block of Industrial Way on Highway 432 and makes paper products including tissue, printing paper, cups, plates and cartons. The Washington State Department of Ecology says the plant employs about 1,000 people. Officials said there was no immediate threat to the public, but people were asked to avoid the area and stay away from Industrial Way while emergency crews remained on scene.
The response came with a familiar shadow over the site. A massive fire broke out there on July 18, 2023, and piles of wood burned for days, adding to local concerns any time the mill goes into emergency mode. Nippon Dynawave did not immediately respond to a request for comment, leaving authorities to manage the scene while investigators and plant workers worked through the damaged container and the chemical hazard it left behind.
What happened Tuesday was not a routine industrial alarm. It was a dangerous implosion inside a working mill, with multiple injuries, decontamination and hospital transfers before the morning rush had fully begun. The public was told there was no immediate threat, but the bigger question now is what caused a chemical vat to fail inside a plant that processes materials used in products shipped far beyond Longview.
