LONGVIEW — The Nippon Dynawave Packaging fire has been reduced to hotspots and Cowlitz County fire departments are no longer assisting, a Longview Fire Department leader reported Saturday evening. Public fire crews started pulling back from the contained Longview paper mill fire Friday as Nippon staff and contractors took over extinguishing the smoldering wood chips that ignited late Tuesday. Nippon crews were continuing Saturday to pull wood chip piles apart with bulldozers to douse the flames, but local fire departments have “no need to return to the site,” said Longview Battalion Chief Eric Koreis. Nippon workers attacked the blaze overnight again Friday, but Cowlitz County fire departments were not on scene. Koreis visited the fire at 1701 Industrial Way near Oregon and Industrial ways twice on Saturday and said very little smoke was visible in the fire’s immediate area.

There were no flames, he added, but the hotspots could reignite if left unattended. He said crews are using thermal imaging to find the hotspots in the wood chip piles and expected the fire to be fully extinguished by Saturday night or Sunday. Dozens of local and regional first responders have been working to extinguish the blaze since it was first reported at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday and created a large cloud of smoke that briefly polluted the air south of Longview. The cause of the fire is under investigation.