Longview community holds vigil after chemical tank disaster

Laura Williquette, right, holds her daughter, Brynn Williquette, 11, as she cries during a vigil at R.A. Long Park for the victims of the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. chemical implosion in Longview, Wash., on May 26, 2026.
*Eli Imadali / OPB*

Hours after a deadly chemical tank rupture in Longview, Washington, killed at least one person and left nine others missing, hundreds of people on Tuesday night met for a vigil in the city’s heart to urge resilience.

There was prayer, songs and somber hope within the crowds who circled the R.A. Long Memorial Park gazebo, even though officials had signaled moments before that more devastating news could be coming as early as Wednesday morning.

“When tragedy hits in our community — whenever it hits, whoever it affects — it has to pull everyone together,” said Graylin Davis, 37. “And that’s what I’m seeing here today: a bunch of people from different walks of life that cared and showed up.”

The scene was just 12 hours removed from the sudden rupture of a 900,000-gallon chemical tank at Nippon Dynawave Packing Company, a heavy industrial site about 2 miles away.

The tank spilled nearly all of its contents: a caustic liquid known as white liquor that is used to break down wood particles into pulp. It can quickly cause second- or third-degree burns if it comes into contact with skin, officials said.

But officials couldn’t provide much specific information about how the malfunction occurred. Longview Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Amos and Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Scott Goldstein told reporters they couldn’t say when the vat had last been inspected.

The fire officials also suggested that nine “unaccounted for” workers at the plant cannot or could not be rescued. When asked during a press conference to elaborate on their statuses, Goldstein said, “There’s no belief rescues still need to be made.”

The two officials then announced that rescue operations were suspended. They said the priority would be to stabilize the vat, followed by emptying the liquid of roughly 90,000 gallons that still sloshed in the tank at the end of the day.

Aerial views of the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, Wash., showing the scene of a chemical implosion that occurred in the morning on May 26, 2026.
*Brandon Swanson / OPB*

“Then accessing the victims that we are able to locate and recover,” Goldstein said. “Our secondary goal is to return all of the workers to their families to have closure for this incident.”

State Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, lives less than 2 miles from the industrial site. He is also a Port of Longview commissioner and ran a private sector hazardous waste management firm before going into politics. He acknowledged to OPB that the death toll could rise soon.

“People do want to know what really happened, how it happened and then of course for it to not ever happen again,” Wilson said.

Wilson said he has had contacts at Nippon Dynawave “for years” and said they are treating the incident seriously. Neither the local offices nor the parent company responded to OPB’s requests for comment. The workplace has accumulated just $3,400 in safety fines across three incidents in recent years.

Wilson, alongside Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and state Rep. Jim Walsh, who is also chair of the Washington Republican Party, left the official press conference to attend the vigil. They made no public statements there.

The event lasted roughly half an hour, with many in attendance gingerly holding electric candles while multiple faith leaders led prayer. Some spoke of feeling determined to overcome the worksite disaster regardless of what more facts may come.

Others, like Crystal Moldenhauer, noted that it will become important for the facts to surface for the families to begin feeling closure. Moldenhauer is a former school board member who said one of her friends is among the missing workers.

“Are they alive or are they not?” Moldenhauer told OPB. “How do you sleep at night not knowing where your loved one is?”

Longview community holds vigil after chemical tank disaster

Hundreds of community members and local officials gathered for a vigil in Longview after a chemical tank rupture at a paper mill killed one person, injured nine others and left nine more missing.

📨 Daily news in your inbox