A massive fire has destroyed the Whitsell wood products manufacturing plant in the community of Saginaw, north of Cottage Grove.

The Register-Guard reports the fire was reported at around 7:30 p.m. Sunday and engulfed the mill within 30 minutes.

Lane Fire Authority Chief Terry Ney says flames could be seen from a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) away.

Billowing plumes of smoke rose into the evening sky and could be seen from Eugene, 20 miles to the north.

No injuries were reported.

After destroying the 169,000-square-foot mill building, the fire spread to stacks of finished lumber products on the site.

Ney says that with so much fuel to feed the fire, firefighters took up a defensive posture and resigned themselves to pouring water on the log piles through the night, into Monday.

-- The Associated Press