GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - In the early morning hours of Sunday, January 22, the 108-year-old rice mill located on the southeast corner of Laurel and Virginia streets went up in flames.

The call came in at 7:57 am, CALFIRE/Gridley Fire Department Station 74 responding in 5 minutes, finding the north end of the building known to locals as ‘Hinamen’s Dryer’ already engulfed and sending up dark plumes of smoke. Ladder truck 74 immediately extended its 110-foot ladder to begin aerial operations, while firefighters on the ground utilized hydrants to get water on the blaze and keep it from progressing into the ‘second story’ of the mill.

Reportedly, Gridley Police Department arrived on scene first, securing the area for the arrival of firefighters and shutting down Laurel Street from Washington to Kentucky Streets to the east and west and Sycamore to Cedar Streets to the north and south. Traffic on Union Pacific’s railroad was completely halted for about half an hour, closely monitored after that for roughly an hour.

Battalion Chief Chip Fowler, one of the chiefs manning the incident command said that there were 9 engines dispatched to the fire, 3 ladder trucks and a breathing support engine. Units came from throughout Butte County, including resources from the City of Chico Fire Department, CALFIRE units from the City of Oroville FD, City of Biggs FD and City of Gridley FD, with mutual aid resources assisting from Marysville, Live Oak, Richvale, Palermo, Kelly Ridge and Bangor. Engine 42, Light and Air, out of Chico arrived about an hour in to replenish oxygen tanks used by the firefighters inside the structure, where most of the smoke was trapped after the north end of the 1^st story collapsed. The fire drew three CALFIRE Battalion Chiefs and two division chiefs to the area, and other support such as Gridley Police Department, CHP, and Butte County EMS.

CALFIRE/Gridley Fire Department’s Captain Mike Conaty said the City of Gridley Public Works Department assisted in increasing the water pressure to get more gallons onto the fire faster, and that City of Gridley Electric Department disconnect some wires so that the fire crews could further their aerial attack on the blaze.

Battalion Chief Fowler explained that quick work had kept the fire out of the second story, and that the goal of all involved was to prevent the spread southward stating, “with all those pits and heavy machinery, everything that is in there, it’s very dangerous.”

Captain Conaty would echo those sentiments later, calling the structure a potential “death trap” for firefighters like himself. The mill, which first opened in 1915, is full of aging heavy equipment and pits in the floor that pose a serious hazard to firefighters. Factoring in the height of the building, measured during the investigation to be approximately 89 ft tall, or equivalent to an 8-story commercial structure, a potential collapse could harm not only fire crews, but surrounding buildings and businesses.

Therefore, Station 74 periodically tours what Captain Conaty calls “target hazards” and takes new crew members out to familiarize themselves with the buildings in our area that pose a threat to responders in the event of a fire. He attributes the success in holding the flames to the first portion of the mill to regular training on those “target hazards.”  Captain Conaty also added that incidents such as Sunday’s fire are exactly why Ladder Truck 74 is crucial to the safety of citizens of Gridley and surrounding areas.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.