A six-alarm fire in Stockton, California, burned a door manufacturing plant and a lumberyard, downed several utility lines, cut power across the surrounding blocks, and sent a firefighter to the hospital. The blaze destroyed millions of dollars in buildings and inventory in a single morning. For every lumberyard and building material business that watched the […]
A four-alarm fire tore through a longtime lumber yard in the Queen Anne area of Seattle, causing more than $4 million in damage. The blaze destroyed three buildings and two sheds used by the yard and a millwork tenant, and it spared a single warehouse that crews kept working from with battery-powered lights in the
Mass timber buildings are moving from pilot projects into mainstream construction, and fire safety in cross-laminated timber (CLT) structures has become one of the most discussed topics in modern building design. CLT panels deliver two-way spans, fast erection times, and a lighter structural footprint, but they also raise a question every owner and code official
In the early hours of Aug. 23, 2024, fire destroyed the Record Lumber sawmill in Oxford, Maine. The 14,000-square-foot mill building was declared a total loss, with damages of nearly $2.5 million. The blaze started around 11:24 p.m., and eleven area fire departments responded. No one was injured and neighboring properties were spared, but the
Fire performance requirements for exterior walls tightened steadily over the past two decades, and more wall assemblies now pass the full-scale test that code officials recognize. A system that earns NFPA 285 approval gives architects and builders a documented path to compliance instead of a one-off engineering judgment for each project. Interior fire protection follows
A fire can gut a lumberyard in minutes. Wood piles, pallets, and stored building materials burn fast, and the open layout of a yard gives flames room to spread between stacks. When a fire struck a Sacramento lumberyard in the early morning, firefighters arrived around 2:30 a.m. to find the blaze tearing through the roof
A late-night fire tore through a hardwood lumber and millwork plant in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, in September 2025, and firefighters spent roughly eight hours bringing it under control. The company behind the mill, founded in 1941, had filed a WARN notice in July covering 145 employees and entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 1. The
At 11 p.m. on a January night, a call about a small shed fire at a Wisconsin lumberyard turned into one of the largest fire responses the area had seen in years. Thirty fire trucks from four neighboring counties arrived in freezing temperatures, yet the blaze ran from a steel shed through the lumber shed
A house survives a wildfire the same way it survives wind and earthquakes: through a system of parts that share the load. Structural engineers design braced frames and moment-resisting frames to carry lateral forces, and fire protection follows the same principle. Roofing, siding, windows, gutters, and vents each carry part of the defense. When one
Visitors driving Wisconsin’s Highway 35 along Lake Pepin can be forgiven for thinking they missed a turn into the Italian countryside. The winery that anchors this stretch of the Great River Road was built to feel like a villa, with a piazza that seats up to 200 guests, a great hall, and reception halls under
