OLYMPIA — Firefighters temporarily shut down traffic on Pacific Avenue Southeast near Interstate 5 Friday morning to contain a fire at a homeless camp that destroyed a wooden structure.
No one was hurt in the blaze and Pacific Avenue is reopened to traffic.
The cause of the fire is “undeterminable based on the damage,” a fire official said.
Olympia Fire Department received several calls reporting a large brush or structure fire behind or in a business being reconstructed along Pacific Avenue, a fire official stated in a news release.
“Responding units reported a large black smoke column immediately upon leaving their stations,” the release from Fire Chief Greg Wright states. “A full structure fire response was initiated with mutual aid from Lacey Fire District 3.”
Firefighters immediately stretched 350 feet of fire hose from Pacific Avenue into the woods, Wright said. Traffic was stopped so a supply line could be stretched from the fire engine, across Pacific Avenue to the nearest hydrant.
Wright said firefighters found two dead trees and a wooden shelter in the center of the homeless encampment consumed by fire. he said fire crews quickly put out all the surrounding fire on the ground before it could spread to any of the trees encircling the encampment.
A wildland firefighting crew from the state Department of Natural Resources responded to assist in mopping up the fire and felling the dead, burned snags in the center of the encampment to reduce the danger of falling, Wright said.
City of Olympia Police and Public Works assisted with blocking Pacific Avenue.
“After about an hour, with the fire suppressed, fire vehicles were repositioned and one lane in each direction on Pacific Avenue was reopened to traffic,” Wright said. “One person that reportedly occupies the encampment came back to the scene about an hour after the fire started and said everything was fine when he left to go to a store.”
Firefighter’s protective clothing and equipment will need careful decontamination, according to Wright.
