All victims recovered after deadly Washington paper mill explosion

All nine missing workers were recovered from Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, closing the recovery phase after a white-liquor tank rupture killed 11 people and set off days of dangerous search operations inside the mill.

Longview Fire Chief Brad Hannig said Saturday, “Today, on day five of this incident, I can share that we have recovered the ninth and final missing employee of this incident.” The rupture came Tuesday morning, May 26, at about 7:15 a.m., during a shift change when workers typically gathered in the area. Authorities said the tank held white liquor, a corrosive chemical mixture used in paper making, and described it as a 900,000-gallon vat. When it failed, caustic liquid tore through parts of the facility, blew out walls and damaged equipment.

Two employees were taken to area hospitals and later died, and the confirmed death toll climbed to 11 as the search continued. Crews had to work slowly and methodically because industrial hazards remained at the site. Vacuum trucks and hundreds of feet of hose were brought in to remove liquid, and workers moved deeper into the mill as conditions allowed.

With the last body recovered, investigators now face the harder question of how a rupture of this scale happened inside a major industrial plant in Cowlitz County. The blast released chemicals into nearby drainage ditches and briefly caused elevated pH levels in the Columbia River, though Longview officials said drinking water remained safe. The Washington State Department of Ecology asked the public to stay away from ditches and dikes while testing continued.

Gov. Bob Ferguson said the disaster could become the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history, and state and local officials have said it may be Washington’s deadliest workplace accident in more than a century. Families and coworkers are now left with the names and faces behind that toll: fathers, sons, mentors and community members, including two brothers, several grandfathers and a man expecting his third child. Relatives of victim Norman Barlow were among those at the scene, while state officials ordered flags lowered to half-staff in honor of the dead.