A Phoenix sawmill plans to repurpose trees knocked down by the recent Tempe microburst. Wine Glass Bar Sawmill says these trees will be converted into usable wood and potentially furniture.
On a visit to the sawmill Friday, manager William Hemphill cut through a piece of wood collected from one of the Tempe trees with a horizontal bandsaw.
Hemphill said a massive number of trees were knocked down in the storm, and the sawmill took in about 300 logs.
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill is repurposing trees knocked down in a Tempe microburst.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
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The Wine Glass Bar Sawmill in Phoenix is repurposing trees that were knocked down in a Tempe microburst in October 2025.
Ignacio Ventura / KJZZ
“And after a storm, we'll get some trees. But this was a lot more than usual. This was probably like two years worth of trees in about a week," he said.
Hemphill says it’s satisfying to create.
“And doing that in a very sustainable, community-based way is important, I believe," he said.
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“We've been thinking about it for a long time,” said Joe Lisiewski, ASU assistant vice president and university architect. “Now with the momentum of sports and athletics and some of the deterioration of the building, it's time to do it.”
