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The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., August 3, 1939, page 1

FIRE DESTROYS KLICKITAT PINE BOX CO. SAWMILL
Negotiations Begun For Lease Of Another Plant; Factory Runs
Blaze Started From Overheated Bearing in Wood Plant; Unofficial Estimates Place Loss At From $15,000 To $20,000; Spectacular Conflagration Started At 2:30 a.m.

Fire that apparently started from an overheated bearing completely destroyed the Klickitat Pine Box company sawmill early Wednesday morning. The blaze which broke out in the wood plant of the mill about 2:30 a.m., was completely out of control before the fire department could get water to the fire.
The blaze was confined entirely to the sawmill. The Klickitat Pine Box company's box factory plant continued operation today. According to Phil Hingston, manager of the company, the box factory has a supply of lumber available sufficient to continue operations. The fire was kept isolated in the burning mill and did no damage to the dry lumber piled in the nearby yard.
Damage to the mill which was covered by insurance, was unofficially estimated at from $15,000 to $20,000. The fire with will cause the temporary lay-off of about 50 men employed on the two mill shifts and wood crew, Hingston said.
Negotiations are underway to immediately resume sawing operations at the plant mill and with portable sawmill equipment now owned by the company. Definite plans of the Klickitat Pine Box company regarding rebuilding of the burned-out plant will be announced later.
Melford Hamllik, night watchman at the mill, discovered the blaze at about 2:30 am. He sounded the mill whistle to arouse the alarm. By the time the fire department and mill crews could arrive at the blaze had reached the main part of the mill and was well out of control.
The night shift at the sawmill had gone home less than half an hour before the fire broke out. Several hundred Goldendale people gathered at the scene of the fire shortly after the alarm sounded.