This is a developing story and will be updated.
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People embrace outside of Nippon Dynawave Packing Company after a chemical implosion early in the morning at the Longview, Wash., facility on May 26, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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Longview Fire emergency responders drive out of Nippon Dynawave Packing Company after a chemical implosion early in the morning at the Longview, Wash., facility on May 26, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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Longview Fire emergency responders drive out of Nippon Dynawave Packing Company after a chemical implosion early in the morning at the Longview, Wash., facility on May 26, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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Longview Fire emergency responder vehicles sit parked outside of Nippon Dynawave Packing Company after a chemical implosion early in the morning at the Longview, Wash., facility on May 26, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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Yellow colored smoke comes out of the Nippon Dynawave Packing Company after a chemical implosion early in the morning at the Longview, Wash., facility on May 26, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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A Vancouver Fire Hazardous Materials crew drives into Nippon Dynawave Packing Company after a chemical implosion early in the morning at the Longview, Wash., facility on May 26, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
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A Vancouver Fire Hazardous Materials crew drives into Nippon Dynawave Packing Company after a chemical implosion early in the morning at the Longview, Wash., facility on May 26, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
At least one person is dead and multiple people have been injured in a major chemical tank implosion at a Southwest Washington paper mill Tuesday morning, according to local officials.
The exact toll of the implosion is not yet clear. Multiple people were transported to regional hospitals.
The Longview Fire Department confirmed the implosion at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company caused “fatalities” and “critical injuries.” A spokesperson for PeaceHealth confirmed to OPB at least one person has died.
PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview received nine people hurt in the incident. Six are in fair condition and two have been transferred elsewhere.
A Legacy Health spokesperson confirmed it is caring for patients from the incident at its Legacy Oregon Burn Center, the only specialty burn clinic in the region.
There are no threats to the city or surrounding areas, Longview Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Gorsuch said.
Gorsuch described the site of the implosion on Industrial Way as a “mass casualty scene.”
Multiple people experienced chemical burns and inhalation injuries, although it was not immediately clear how many people were hurt or how serious the injuries were, Gorsuch said. He said first responders decontaminated people and took them to nearby medical centers.
Firefighters are asking people to stay away from the site of the implosion, which was first reported at 7:19 a.m.
Regional hazardous materials crews are on the scene after the large supply tank at the mill imploded, Gorsuch said. “This could probably be an all-day process for us.”
The mill in Longview is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Nippon Paper Group, a major global pulp and paper products company.
Nippon purchased the mill from Weyerhaeuser in 2016 for $285 million.
Around 1,000 employees work at the facility making liquid packaging board — like what’s used for milk cartons — as well as pulp, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.
The mill makes about 280,000 tons of bleached liquid packaging paperboard and wetlap and slush pulp each year.
The Nippon Dynawave office in Longview is not commenting on the incident. OPB has yet to hear back from its parent company.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
