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The Columbian, Vancouver, WA., June 28, 1955, page 1

FIRE SWEEPS FRUIT PLANT
Underwood Loss May Be $600,000

A spectacular fire, still burning at noon today after 12 hours, raged through the Underwood Fruit and Warehouse Co. of packing plant at Underwood, destroying three-fourths of the plant.
Firemen and volunteers were working to keep the fire from spreading to the standing portion of the fruit packing plant, at the east end, where highly volatile trees sprays and ammonia are stored, it was said.

Loss Is High

Loss at noon was estimated at $600,000 by John Bloxom, Yakima, one of the owners. The plant is owned by the Bloxom family. Bloxom said it is fully insured.
The Lewis and Clark highway is closed to traffic due to the fire. The State Highway Department said it would be reopened after the fire is put out. East-west through traffic is detoured over the Bridge of the Gods at Cascade Locks and the Hood River bridge, it was said.
The packing plant is contained in a building 40 feet wide and a quarter of a mile long, extending between the highway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle railroad tracks at Underwood, about 50 miles east of Vancouver.

Help Called

Firemen from White Salmon, Bingen, Hood River, Odell, Mosier and Parkdale were summoned to help control the blaze. In addition, State Division of Forestry crews were on hand. Scores of volunteers turned out to help combat the raging fire.
The blaze apparently started in the cold storage section of the plant, according to H.D. "Bud" Couch, manager. It was spotted simultaneously by two unidentified motorists, one a truck driver for the Lee and Estes Co. identified only as "Art," and the other man driving by in a pickup truck, it was said.
They turned in the alarm at the Underwood Café, across the highway from the huge packing plant.
There was no night watchman on duty, it was said, since the fruit crop had been processed and the plant was shut down awaiting the next season's pear crop, due in about two months.

Pears Handled

The plant had a capacity of 300 railroad cars of pears, or around 300,000 boxes. The bulk of the operation was pear packing, and the plant served a number of smaller orchards and the mammoth Mt. Adams Orchards Co. winter pear orchard behind White Salmon, also owned by the Bloxom family. Apples were also packed at the plant.
Fire fighters were given a rough going by a 15-inch layer of sawdust shavings which made up insulation for the cold storage section of the plant, it was said.
Once during the early morning, the skiff west wind which fanned the blaze sent flames to ignite grass on the hillside across the highway from the plant. The brush fire was brought under control, however.

Traffic Stopped

Intense heat from the burning plant, only 12 feet from the highway, caused traffic to be stopped. Flames also charred railroad ties, and one train was delayed during the peak of the blaze. The S.P. and S. chief dispatcher in Portland reported this morning that train service was not otherwise hampered.
Electric power was also disrupted in the area when poles and lines burned.

Records Lost

All records of the plant operation since 1923 were destroyed, since the office was completely burned. Masonry walls not toppled as a result of the blaze will have to be dynamited, since they are teetering inward, it was said.
The plant burned in 1924, but at that time had a capacity of only 40,000 boxes, it was stated.
Bloxom said immediate steps will have to be taken to take care of the forthcoming d'Anjou pear crop, due in about two months.

The Columbian, Vancouver, WA., June 29, 1955, page 1
Includes photographs. One was titled:
UNDERWOOD PACKING PLANT BURNS - This is the Underwood Fruit and Warehouse Co. packing plant Tuesday morning as flames were still raging out of control after several hours. The plant caught fire at about midnight and the blaze was not controlled until after noon. Debris was still burning this morning. Damage was figured at around $600,000. This picture books eastward along the south side of the quarter-mile-long building, along the S.P. and S. main line tracks. (White Salmon Enterprise photo.)
One was titled:
FRUIT PACKING PLANT RUINED BY FIRE - These pictures show the aftermath of the disastrous fire which razed the Underwood Fruit and Warehouse Co. plant Tuesday. The quarter-mile-long building was demolished, except for a storage shed and units at the east end. The top picture, looking east, shows rubble, still burning in the background. Twisted pipes carried refrigerant through cold storage compartments. A workman stands beside a burned-off power pole. At bottom, looking west, more damage can be seen. Klickitat County P.U.D. crews work in the background to set new poles and restring wires to resume electrical service. (White Salmon Enterprise photos.)

LITTLE STANDS AFTER FRUIT PLANT BLAZE

The fire which destroyed the Underwood Fruit and Warehouse Co. fruit packing plant at Underwood was brought under control early Tuesday afternoon, although debris in the gutted plant was still reported burning this morning.
All that remains standing is a sheet metal storage shed and two units of the plant at the east end of the quarter-mild-long building. The remainder looks like a World War II newsreel scene of European bombings.
Masonry walls were toppled and inside fixtures were almost unrecognizable. Huge boilers, subjected to the extreme heat, were crumpled like wadded-up tissue. Tubes which had once carried refrigerant around the walls of the cold storage compartments were strong through an over the debris like charcoal-colored spaghetti.

Trees Singed

Trees and bushes on the bluff above the plant were singed brown, and some spot brush fires were still burning Tuesday night.
The choking smell of ammonia, used in refrigeration, surrounded the razed plant.
Firemen from White Salmon stood by Tuesday night, waiting while debris inside the rectangles of fallen brick burned brightly.
Reports of the fire's origin vary, and none are official. Some said it started in one of the cold storage sections, others believe that the fire started in some flooring material which was to be used in repair work.
The fire was first noticed shortly after midnight Tuesday morning, and was well out of control before firemen could do anything. Fire departments from as far away as Stevenson and Oregon points turned to in the effort to stop the blaze as it moved from section to section of the long-narrow plant building.

Blaze Stopped

A tentative "under control" word was given by fire officials about noon Tuesday. Later, it was confirmed as firemen and volunteers managed to hold their own with the flames.
The damage estimate is $600,000, reconfirmed by John Bloxom, of the Bloxom family which owns the plant. Value of salvageable equipment was set at about $100,000.
Highly volatile fruit sprays and ammonia were safely removed from the storage shed on the east end of the long building before heat or flames drew near.
The Lewis and Clark Highway, closed during the fire because of the plant's proximity to the highway, was reopened Tuesday afternoon. The plant building extends between the highway and S.P and S. railroad tracks at Underwood, 60 miles east of Vancouver.
Electric power poles along the highway side of the building were burned, but Klickitat County P.U.D. crews Tuesday afternoon quickly erected new power poles and strung new wire, allowing resumption of service.

Smoke Hangs

Smoke from the burning debris, even late Tuesday, could be seen from several miles downriver. From a distance, the sight looked like one of the many sawmills which dot the river's edge emitting smoke from burners.
After dark, from the hillside above, the burning rubble looked like a series of campfires, a far cry from the serious nature of the fire.
The plant was empty at the time of the fire, awaiting the next crop of pears, due in about two months.

The Enterprise, White Salmon, WA., June 30, 1955, page 1
Includes photographs, with the following title:
AROUND THE CLOCK FIRE-FIGHTING - by leg weary firemen save part of the quarter mile long Underwood Fruit and Warehouse Co. plant Tuesday. The fire still smoldered and flared Wednesday in what was the worst local fire loss in years. Top photo was taken by Oregon Journal staff photographer, bottom pictures by Bob Meresse of The Enterprise. Cuts courtesy of the Vancouver Colombian, which borrowed the local shots for its Tuesday edition.

MONSTER FLAMES ENGULF BIG UNDERWOOD PLANT

Fire, which broke out shortly before mid-night, Monday night, still flared late Wednesday after having wiped out all except 150 feet of a 1400-foot-long warehouse of the Underwood Fruit & Warehouse Co.
H.D. Couch, manager of the fruit warehouse, said he would not estimate the loss. He said, however, there was no fruit in the structure which was 40 feet wide, extending along the Spokane, Portland & Seattle railroad tracks.
Damage was estimated as high as $1,000,000 by some.
Sawdust insulation in the walls of the cold storage section - with capacity for 225,000 boxes of fruit - gave a hundred firemen a stubborn battle.
A 20-mile-an-hour easterly wind helped drive the flames through the plant which is located next to Highway 830 in Underwood.
There was no early determination of the cause of the fire.
The smoke hindered firemen all during the conflagration.
At one time a brush fire was touched off and raced up the steep hillside toward a cluster of houses, but it was put down by Forest Service Crews.
Ties on the railroad caught fire, delaying several east bound trains.
Firemen responded to the call from the communities of White Salmon, Bingen, Hood River, West Side and Pine Grove as well as from the Washington forestry fire crew at Stevenson.
Three times during the night firemen thought they had the flames under control, only to see them start moving again.
At 7 a.m. only 150 feet or so of the long structure had been untouched.
Couch said equipment for the two packing lines was in the building and he said it was not possible to say whether there was any possibility of salvage.
The warehouse, owned by the Underwood Fruit and Warehouse Co. is owned by the Bloxom family of Yakima, principal owner. The company had recently purchased new land from Sydney Thompson near White Salmon.
Traffic during the fire was detoured via Willard and Cook, Washington on the old highway.