By REBEKAH DENN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The fire that destroyed the Twin City Foods plant in 1996 remains etched in the memories of Stanwood residents.

It was a particular shock because Twin City has been one of Stanwood's largest employers for decades -- every other resident seems to have a Twin City connection.

"A lot of kids got their education" from tuition money earned at the plant or at its predecessor on the same site, says Mildred Furuheim. As a teenager, she recalls, she would snip sacks of beans at the factory.

"It was very hard work, and you would have to snip so fast if you were going to make anything," she says.

The fire apparently started in an electrical vault, but quickly engulfed the two-block plant.

Firefighter Andy Helms, who was in Mount Vernon 17 miles north, knew something was wrong when he looked toward Stanwood and saw a column of black smoke rising.

He and hundreds of others faced the battle of their careers, fighting 36 hours at a stretch against a hissing, exploding inferno.

Much of the town was evacuated, and Camano Island residents were cut off from the mainland.

"It was so smoky in my room that I coughed and coughed and coughed," recalls Daisy Twiss, another Josephine Sunset resident, who was evacuated to the high school along with the home's other residents.

There were no casualties, and the business rebuilt quickly, with a prompt pledge from the company to remain in Stanwood and with then-Gov. Mike Lowry helping to expedite the permits.

"The Lervicks (the owners) were very good, and we were very pleased they decided to rebuild. It was marvelous we got the response we got -- from even the governor -- in rebuilding that plant," says former mayor Don Moa.

On the main street through town today, the logo of the new Twin City is almost indistinguishable from the old.