Workers at lunch when ranger station exploded in flames

By Associated Press Published: Jul 19, 2010 at 1:50 PM PDT Last Updated: Jul 19, 2010 at 3:58 PM PDT
Workers at lunch when ranger station exploded in flames
A fire rips through the building that houses the U.S. Forest Service visitor center and ranger district offices for the Wallowa Mountains region in Enterprise, Oregon Sunday, July 11, 2010. One wall was left standing Monday after the 20-year-old log building erupted in flames late Sunday afternoon. (AP Photo/The Observer, Katy Nesbitt)

ENTERPRISE, Ore. (AP) — A building that housed a popular visitors center and forest ranger headquarters near the Wallowa Mountains of northeastern Oregon was getting a coat of stain before it burned.

The La Grande Observer reports that the workers went on a lunch break Sunday and didn't know about the fire until they got a call.

The building's owner told the paper the workers had pulled the refinishing material away from the building after the wind began to pick up and they had to give up using a sprayer.

Investigators have not yet determined the fire's cause.

The U.S. Forest Service is reopening a visitors center in a Chamber of Commerce building across Oregon Highway 82 from the burned structure near Enterprise.

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Information from: The (La Grande) Observer, http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/

 

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.