A fire has destroyed half of Catalyst Paper’s (TSX:CTL) waste paper inventory in Arizona.
The inferno broke out around noon on Monday in the waste paper storage area at the Richmond company’s Snowflake Mill in northeast Arizona.
Just last week, Catalyst announced it was cutting production at its Arizona plant.
Fire departments from a number of nearby municipalities were called in to fight the blaze, but Catalyst said high winds challenged response team efforts.
Firebreaks were put in place to limit the spread of damage, and response teams were able to make progress extinguishing the fire Monday evening as winds eased.
Although no serious injuries were reported, the fire has shut down production at the mill and destroyed some 14,000 tonnes of recovered waste paper.
“Details on the cause of the incident are not known at this time and the mill will remain down until the full extent of the damage to its waste paper feed system is known,” the company said, adding that paper production is expected to resume later this week.
Snowflake has an annual capacity of 337,000 tonnes and is the largest private-sector employer in northeast Arizona.
Last week, Catalyst said it intended to curtail production at Snowflake by 5,500 tonnes to adjust for a shortage of quality waste paper. (See “Catalyst to curtail production at Arizona mill” – BIV Business Today, April 15.)
The company bought the mill for $172 million in 2008. At press time, Catalyst’s shares were valued at $0.26.