Murphy knows how it feels to lose wood products mill to fire

July 19--John Murphy, CEO of Eugene wood products firm Murphy Co., was in Texas meeting with customers Thursday when he got a call from a former employee telling him the Springfield Plywood and Veneer mill was on fire.

Later that evening he saw the shocking aerial photo of the sprawling plant engulfed in flames beneath a plume of black smoke.

"I took it pretty hard," he said. "It was nine years and 13 days since we had our big fire in Sutherlin. We've come through a tough stretch of the economy and it's sickening to see something like this happen when it looked like things were improving."

"That's the heartbreaker," Murphy said. "Here they've weathered the storm and the workers had weathered the storm and things were looking better, then to have this loss to the customers and the community."

Springfield has seen its share of recent job losses, and "I feel for the 250 people" (at the Springfield mill), Murphy said.

"It's a pretty empty feeling for an employer to face your employees and not know what's going to be happening on day two," he said.

Murphy said he sent an email to Steve Swanson, CEO of Swanson Group, the Glendale company that owns the Springfield mill, "letting him know if there's anything we can do as Murphy Co. to please contact us."

Murphy said his company also contacted Swanson's human resources department about openings at Murphy's mills in Eugene, Rogue River and White City.

"Steve is a close friend, a hardworking, industrious person," Murphy said. "He's a survivor. He'll wake up over the weekend and figure out what he's going to do. It takes a day or two to recover from something like this. You just can't believe it."

Nearly a decade ago, Murphy couldn't believe it when his company's 50-year old Sutherlin plywood mill burned to the ground on July 5, 2005. A circulation fan motor apparently sparked residue on top of a dryer, which leveled the $40 million plant and idled 290 workers.

With help from an insurance payout and enterprise zone tax waivers, Murphy rebuilt the plant, which now produces laminated veneer lumber.

Murphy Co. operates four wood products plants in Oregon and one in Washington. Its Eugene facility employs 235 people.

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Follow Sherri on Twitter @sburimcdonald . Email sherri@registerguard.com .

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