Firefighters save historic home on Old Highway 99 on Monday
Firefighters knocked down a fire at a landmark Thurston County home at the corner of Old Highway 99 and Waldrick Road on Monday.
East Olympia Fire District 6 responded to the fire at about 9 a.m. and knocked it down in about 15-20 minutes, deputy chief of operations Mike Calhoun said. The blaze caused extensive but not fatal damage to the historic, blue home, locally known as the French Café.
“It was a great effort and crews did a really good job of saving this home,” Calhoun said. “It’s kind of an icon in the neighborhood.”
No people occupied the home at the time of the fire, Calhoun said, but firefighters did rescue a large German Shepard which suffered from smoke inhalation. He added the dog was transported to an emergency veterinarian and is expected to recover.
Five engines and four to five water tenders, trucks with about 2-3,000 gallons of water each, responded to the house fire, Calhoun said. The water tenders were needed because there are no fire hydrants in the area, he said, but not all the water was used.
In addition to Fire District 6, Calhoun said resources from other agencies in Tumwater, Lacey and South Thurston helped respond. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office closed part of Old Highway 99 near the home for about two hours, he said.
Calhoun said the fire started in the back lower area where the kitchen is located. He described the home as an early 20th century structure built with “balloon-frame construction.”
“It’s very compartmentalized, like homesteads were with tall ceilings, very ornate detail features, molding and trim etc.,” Calhoun said.
Such a home lends itself to rapid hidden fire spreads, he said, because the structure has no fire blocks between floors.
“Crews did a great job early opening up the walls to stop that before it got a chance to travel into the attic space,” Calhoun said. “Usually when it gets to the attic, it’s kind of game over.”
He said the home suffered a lot of water and smoke damage, the kitchen will need to be completely redone and features will need to be repaired.
However, he added the structure remains in-tact, meaning it will not have to be rebuilt.
In this case, a passerby notified first responders of the blaze, and no person was home, Calhoun said. Luckily, nobody got hurt, but for other cases Calhoun offered some advice.
“Working smoke alarms save lives,” he said.
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 1:25 PM.
