Victims of the Washington paper mill disaster included husbands and grandfathers

LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Authorities resumed a painstaking search Thursday for nine workers feared dead at a Washington state paper mill. chemical tank explodedIt’s destroying a community where many families have worked at the mill for generations.

between 11 people are thought to have diedThere is a grandfather who is always ready to help anyone, including the lost, and a young husband who is described as selfless and caring, according to friends who organize fundraisers for the victims’ families.

There is no hope of finding survivors of Tuesday’s tank explosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, one of the deadliest workplace accidents in the United States in recent years, authorities said.

The partially collapsed tank spilled more than 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of a highly corrosive chemical mixture called white liquor, which is used to break down wood into certain types of paper products.

Rescue of missing people will be slow and deliberate because of the dangers posed by remaining chemicals, fire officials said Wednesday.

Authorities said that the cause of the disaster is still being investigated and they did not disclose the names of those who died.

Gilbert Bernal, a grandfather who worked as an electrician at the factory, was the first confirmed death, said his friend Todd Cornwell.

“He was one of the most genuinely nice people you’ve ever met. He’d give you his shirt if you needed it. He was always willing to help with whatever needed to be done,” Cornwell said.

CJ Doran, 26, was among those presumed dead, according to a GoFundMe post verified by the crowdfunding site.

The post said he was a husband who was “the spiritual leader of their family, the joy of their home, and the breadwinner of the family.”

The tank malfunction also injured eight people, including a firefighter. Some suffered burns or respiratory injuries, officials said.

The mill’s Japanese parent company, Nippon Paper Group, said in a statement on Wednesday that it offered its “deepest condolences and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.”

The spill did not contaminate air or drinking water in and around Longview, a city of about 40,000 near Washington’s border with Oregon that has deep ties to the paper and lumber industries, officials said Wednesday. Generations of families have worked in the factories, and many residents who spoke to The Associated Press had family members or friends who currently or previously worked at the Nippon Dynawave factory.

Crews were working to drain water from ditches near the plant and dilute it before pumping it into the Columbia River, which flows next to the mill.

Some pollution reached the river, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it had no noticeable impact.

Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press Martha Bellisle in Seattle, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio contributed.