RV catches fire next to gas station fuel pumps in west Olympia

An RV caught fire Friday morning in front of a gas station in west Olympia, destroying the RV and damaging the gas station.

At about 7 a.m., the Olympia Fire Department was called to the Texaco gas station on the corner of Black Lake Boulevard and Cooper Point Road, across the street from Barnes & Noble, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Buchanan told The Olympian.

When firefighters arrived at the Texaco, they found the vehicle engulfed by fire with flames spreading to the roof of the gas station, Buchanan said.

Power and gas to the station were cut off, traffic was blocked at the busy intersection, and firefighters began working on the fire, Buchanan said.

“Operations went smooth,” Buchanan said. No one was injured and there were “no curve balls” when it came to extinguishing the fire, said Buchanan, who was among those who responded to the fire.

The owner of the RV was interviewed at the gas station and, according to Buchanan, told firefighters the fire began when he was pouring gasoline into a container he usually uses for water inside the engine compartment. Gas began spilling from the container, which is not approved to have gas in it, and as it drained into the engine compartment, the gas caught fire.

The fire quickly spread to the rest of the late 1970s RV, destroying it. The owner of the RV told firefighters the vehicle was his home, that it was uninsured and that he had no money, Buchanan said. The man said he has relatives in the area who he could call and arrange to stay with while he figures out a new housing situation.

The roof over the gas station’s fuel pumps was damaged by the fire; Buchanan estimated that it caused between $80,000 to $100,000 of damage there.

After the fire was extinguished, Cooper Point Road and Black Lake Boulevard were opened up to through traffic and a tow truck was called to remove the RV’s burnt remains.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 9:42 AM.