Due to the amazing amount of financial support you have all helped us raise we now have a lot more money then we ever dreamed we would raise. That being said Mark White president of the tuna club and myself have formed a committee to oversee dispersement of the funds to those in need.
That committee consists of Dave Moore (dock boss at the landing) port commissioner Mike Shirley,
fisherman Zeke Estrella, Ilwaco Tuna Club president Mark White, and myself the vice president of the Ilwaco Tuna Club, WA
We need those effected by the fire to email me at Dustingreene10@gmail.com with a list of what they need to purchase right away to fish next week and the costs associated with that. They can also include replacement costs for gear moving forward, and any personal expense for them and their crew if money is needed for food, living costs etc.
The committee will review each list and pay for what these fisherman need right away to fish next week first, then depending on what we have left we will help with living costs and new gear costs. We would also like to help out the employees of the landing who lost vehicles and their jobs.
Please forward this on to anyone you know that was impacted by the fire. And thank you all so much for helping spread the word and for donating your time and money. This community thanks you!!
See previous post re the fire at Ilwaco Landing that destroyed crab pots that are essential to the local fleet. A couple of photos from a decade ago:
You can view a drone video of the aftermath here. KING 5 news has an update from the next morning, here. And on the day after, another KING 5 story has an interview with a local crabber. A couple of screen shots from that story show the burned crab pots.
Screenshot from KING 5Screenshot from KING 5
This is what a crab pot that is ready to be set should look like:
Information from a local crabber: “Sadly, crab pots are not covered by insurance. Pots are a disposable expense. Because they lose a couple in the process of crabbing. Insurance doesn’t cover them.☹️“
Community outreach has already begun.
Go Fund me organized by the Ilwaco Tuna club: https://gofund.me/be6c5dc7. They also have an account set up at Bank of the Pacific for those who wish to bypass GoFundMe. “
Important update to procedure if donating by check to relief fund at Bank of the Pacific:
As seen on a local group: Checks must be payable to: Crab Facility Fire Relief Fund, NOT Ilwaco Tuna Club! They are separate accounts.”
Go Fund Me for a crabbing family of the F/V Brandy: https://gofund.me/e4fb0a2b Caring responses from other fisherfolk:
Today at noon, a friend texted to ask if we knew why town was so smoky. We went out onto the street and looked west. Never have we seen such thick fog, which had to be more than fog because of the stench of burning plastic and the silence from the foghorns on the river.
Soon we learned that it was smoke with from a massive fire at the Ilwaco Landing fish processing facility, not the old Jessie Fish Company that is right next to the marina and port businesses, but one that is a little further away along the loop road to Cape Disappointment.
Ilwaco residents soon got a text: This is the Pacific County Emergency Management Agency with a public protection announcement.
There is a structure fire in Ilwaco. if you are in the path of the smoke you are advised to stay indoors and ensure your windows and doors are closed. Shelter in place.
The Chinook Observer, our local weekly, had regular updates and videos, including this one with the fire at its peak. https://fb.watch/pKLlCtRnUM/ Fire trucks from as far away as Raymond were on their way to help.
Chinook Observer
“At 1:20 p.m. Monday, some exhausted firefighters at the scene of Pacific County’s worst industrial fire in decades are receiving treatment by Medix emergency responders.
Crab pots stockpiled at the scene have been reduced to piles of wire and black ash, spelling a dismal start of local commercial crabbing that is supposed to start deliveries on Feb. 1.
Crews are still engaging the fire as they slowly retreat. Vehicles belonging to dock workers will soon be claimed by the fire. Fire crews are hastening their retreat.
The office portion of the complex became fully involved in flames at about 1:24 p.m., with the fire’s intensity continuing to worsen.”
What looks like a video below is a screenshot, but I put the link to the video below the picture.
Our local fire fighters are all volunteers and then had to back their trucks up and leave the scene, which has become far too dangerous with exploding propane tanks and toxic fumes.
“At around 1:10 p.m. Monday, fire crews plan to start backing the trucks out, retreating to higher ground to regroup. There is concern about combustible gases in the facility.”
A bit later: “Reporter Luke Whittaker reports at 1:13 p.m. that waves of heat can be felt hundreds of yards away, and the fire is only burning more and more intensely. Fire crews are in the process of retreating.”
We worried about the firefighters, reading the news that some were being treated by medics.
Soon came this: “The facility is expected to begin collapsing into the water soon.”
As the fire claimed the docks and pilings (which fisherman Deny pointed out was a situation made worse by it happening at low tide), it looks like the entire facility is a total loss. A friend told me that 8,500 crab pots at $300 each were lost. Over two and a half million dollars worth, if I am doing arithmetic right (which is not always likely). I don’t know if any of the crab pots shown in this photo were saved. I read that an attempt was made to push them into the water before the fire got too hot.
Many of the crab fleet are family run businesses, already stretched because the season got delayed to open on February 1st. In a good year, when the crab size up early (get meaty enough), the season can start as early as December 1st. That would be a rare perfect year, but a February 1st is the very latest start date. The crabbers set their pots a couple of days before the opening day, which means this huge loss happened just about a week before those pots would have been taken off the dock. It its already a blow to not have caught the crab ahead of the Chinese New Year, which, from what I’ve read, is one of their biggest markets.
In 1991, after vacationing here, I subscribed to the Chinook Observer weekly by mail, in Seattle. Friday was a good day because the newspaper from the beach would arrive. One of the main reasons we moved here was because of stories in the newspaper in the winter of 1991-1992 about the crab season being late, and how local restaurants of the day (I think one was the Reel ‘Em In Café ) provided free meals for crabbing families. We wanted to live in such a caring community, and we did move here on Christmas Eve 1992, first to Seaview and, in 1994, we bought an old fisherman’s shack in Ilwaco.
I won’t be surprised if the community of 2024 rallies around the crabbers again to help them out. With just ten days before opening day, it will be a race to replace the pots in time.
We will share if any sort of fundraiser is announced.
Our Ilwaco 