Workers were applying stain to Forest Service building the day it burned

ENTERPRISE — The Wallowa Mountain Visitors Center, which burned to the ground Sunday afternoon, was in the process of getting a new coat of stain.

Workers hired by Seaside Associates, owner of the log structure that housed the visitors center and several federal agencies, had been staining the building until 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Ann Knight of Seaside Associates said Wednesday.

Wallowa County dispatch was notified at 4:47 p.m. Sunday that the building was on fire.

Knight said the workers were applying stain to the building with a sprayer until 11 a.m., when the wind picked up.

They switched to applying stain by hand to the handrails in the front of the building, Knight said, until they took a lunch break around 3 p.m. The workers didn’t know the building had caught fire until they received a phone call after 5 p.m.

Knight said she received a call at her home in Chelan, Wash., about 5 p.m. informing her that the building was on fire.

“We are in the process of grieving,” Knight said. “The architect who designed the building is so devastated as well. We are very glad no one was hurt.”

The company, she said, hasn’t decided what the future of the site will be.

“It’s too soon to determine whether we will rebuild,’’ Knight said.

“Everyone loved being there. The visitors center was such a draw. So many people stopped in for information and got the feel of the high mountains and Hells Canyon. All those things in the building were very unique — the history of the land and of the Nez Perce.”

The workers who were staining the building have worked for Seaside Associates and for the Knights’ personal property.

“The guys have worked with us and the product before,” Knight said. “They had pulled everything back from the building when the wind picked up. We have always been good stewards for a very attractive building.”

The Knights’ son did the landscaping himself, which has mostly been saved.

They own the 20 acres where the building was situated. The barn and warehouse remain. The barn and warehouse are being used by fire and trail crews.

The fire remains under investigation by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who are attempting to determine the origin and cause.

“We will know nothing until the investigation is over,” Knight said.

In 1994 there was an unsuccessful arson attempt to burn the Forest Service building. Minimal damage occurred.

The Forest Service visitors center will re-open to the public today in the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce office. The chamber office is directly across Highway 82 from where the center formerly stood. Visitor center employees will provide basic services, said Judy Wing, public affairs officer for the Wallowa- Whitman National Forest said.

The Blue Mountain Incident Management Team is continuing to look for office space for Forest Service employees. In the meantime, the team is headquartered at Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise. Laptops have been set up with wireless air cards so employees can check e-mail and their Forest Service files online, Wing said. Other semblances of office life, like a copy machine, have been installed.

The management team will have the use of Cloverleaf until July 24.

About 70 people worked at the visitors center, which served as the headquarters for the Wallowa and Eagle Cap ranger districts. It also housed offices for other federal agencies.