LONGVIEW, Wash. — Tuesday night, Southwest Washington remembered the 11 people killed in the industrial disaster at a Longview paper plant and offered help to those whose lives were turned upside down by the tragedy.
A sold-out benefit concert at Longview’s Columbia Theater raised tens of thousands of dollars for the families of the victims. According to organizers, 800 tickets were sold for the last-minute event, netting $35,000.
“Everybody knows someone who has been affected,” Kelly Ragsdale, director of the Columbia Theatre, said. “It has been really hard. Everyone wants to do something, and it just came together when we thought, ‘What could we do?’”
The show was held a week to the day after a vat containing hundreds of thousands of gallons of a caustic chemical called white liquor imploded at Longview’s Nippon Dynawave packaging plant, killing 11 people. The trauma is still fresh, and the cause of the implosion remains under investigation.
Organizers hoped to give people a way to help while offering a distraction and a chance for reflection.
“Everybody wants to help in some way and just make it through,” Ragsdale said.
The show featured a pair of Southwest Washington natives: opener Dakota Robins of Toledo and headliner Cort Carpenter of Kelso, who is now making a name for himself in Nashville’s country music scene.
“It just feels good to be a part of this community during this time,” attendee Marlene Hardwick said.
More important than the music was showing the people affected by the tragedy that their neighbors have their backs.
“Everything the families have been through, it’s been really tough and I just wanted to support them,” Hardwick said.
An online memorial to the victims of the implosion is now online.
KIRO 7 has gathered a list of resources for those interested in helping. Donations are also being accepted at the Lower Columbia Longshoremen’s Federal Credit Union at 629 14th Ave in Longview.