ILWACO, Wash. — A massive fire broke out at a crab-landing facility on Monday, causing significant damage and destroying fishing gear ahead of the commercial Dungeness crab season.

According to the Chinook Observer and other local reports, the fire consumed a large wooden dock and damaged a warehouse portion of the facility. Residents were warned to stay indoors and keep windows and doors shut because of potentially hazardous smoke. The danger had passed by the early evening, according to officials with Pacific County Emergency Management Agency.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown. However, witnesses said that hundreds of crab harvesting pots stacked in preparation for the upcoming opener of the commercial Dungeness crab season were destroyed in the blaze. The commercial Dungeness season, among the most lucrative fisheries, is set to open Feb. 1 following multiple delays.

The facility, formerly known as Ilwaco Landing, is owned by West Coast seafood processor Bornstein Seafoods, which also operates seafood processing plants in Astoria, just across the Columbia River, and Bellingham, Washington.

A representative for the company could not be reached for comment.

Butch Smith, the chairman of the Port of Ilwaco Commission, saw the flames from his front window. He called it a heartbreaking situation, especially for fishermen preparing for the crab opener.

“Last year’s crab season was not the best, and there was no albacore this summer, and now their pots burn up just before they get ready to go fishing,” Smith said. “It’s just a perfect storm of a disaster if I’ve ever heard one.”

Bornstein’s Ilwaco facility, located near the Port of Ilwaco, is privately owned, but Smith said it is a loss to the wider community, the commercial fishermen and the port as a whole.

He noted that the pounds of seafood that cross processors’ docks are key when the port makes its case for the federal funding it needs to dredge navigation channels in Baker Bay. Regular dredging is necessary to keep channels clear and ensure the port remains open for both recreational and commercial fishermen.

“So it has a big effect, potentially a big effect,” Smith said.

With that in mind, Smith said the port has a role to play in seeking and promoting aid for the fishermen and the Bornstein’s facility. He has been in conversation with U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat who represents southwest Washington state, and has reached out to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington state Democrat.

In a statement posted to social media, Gluesenkamp Perez urged anyone affected by the fire to reach out to her office. She thanked the first responders and said, “My heart is with those being treated, as well as the crabbers who lost boats and suffered damages. With crab season starting next week, this is an especially devastating blow.”