West Olympia mobile home a total loss after Tuesday evening fire
A mobile home in west Olympia is a total loss after a fire Tuesday night, according to the Olympia Fire Department.
The only person living inside, a man who uses a wheelchair, reportedly escaped the blaze without injuries.
Responders with the Olympia Fire Department were dispatched to Friendly Village of Olympia, a mobile home park for people age 55 and older on Archwood Drive Southwest about 9:10 p.m. Tuesday, according to OFD’s Assistant Chief of Operations Mike Buchanan.
Buchanan said the department already was responding to a fire in another area of the city reported just 5 minutes earlier, but an engine got to the mobile home park within 2 minutes after the department was dispatched there. (The other fire was handled quickly, Buchanan said.)
When responders arrived, Buchanan said half the mobile home was engulfed, with flames coming out of its windows and roof. In the end, the entire mobile home was damaged and is considered a total loss. The value is estimated at $55,000.
Buchanan said one responder fell through the home’s floor while extinguishing hot spots.
The sole occupant of the home was a man who uses a wheelchair, according to Buchanan. The man reportedly told responders he was smoking a cigarette, which he rested by his computer when the doorbell rang. When he answered the door for his grocery delivery, he said he looked back to see a fire had started where he left his cigarette.
Both a spokesperson for the department and Park Manager Lynn Oliff confirmed the man was not injured in the fire.
Buchanan said it’s lucky the man was near the door. “If he would’ve been in another room, this could’ve been a tragedy,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan said the Tumwater, McLane Black Lake, Griffin, and South Bay fire departments also responded to the fire.
The fire department was able to provide the man with clothing and food and to contact his family. The American Red Cross provided the man with vouchers for a hotel room and bus fare.
Around 11:30 p.m., the man agreed to be transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia for an unrelated medical issue, according to Buchanan.
This story was originally published September 25, 2019 at 10:33 AM.
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