13-acre brush fire Thursday evening shuts down I-5 in south Thurston County for hours
Freeway drivers had to make quite the detour Thursday evening when a brush fire in Grand Mound blew into the median of I-5, forcing the Washington State Patrol and fire agencies to close the road.
West Thurston Regional Fire Authority’s Lanette Dyer said the fire was first reported at about 6:30 p.m. near State Route 12 and Elderberry Street Southwest in Grand Mound. It then spread toward Exit 88 of Interstate 5, leading West Thurston to call for help from additional Thurston County fire agencies and the Department of Natural Resources.
All lanes of I-5 and surrounding streets were blocked while firefighters battled the fire as it jumped briefly into the freeway median and grew to just over 13 acres. Southbound lanes were reopened at about 8:45 p.m., and the fire was 100% contained by about 11 p.m. Traffic was back to mostly normal after midnight.
Dyer said the DNR is investigating the fire and that they’re currently unsure of how it started. She said though the fire was labeled a threat, it posed no real danger to people or homes and evacuation orders were never given.
In an interview with The Olympian on Friday, Dyer said the fire was one of several calls they had throughout the evening and that if it weren’t for the RFA’s mutual aid partners, things might look different.
“We fight to get it all done,” she said. “Our crews have been maintaining this level for years, but it’s getting to a point where a quarter of our time we have to spread ourselves incredibly thin.”
Dyer said the RFA’s tax levy wasn’t passed by voters this year, so they’re going back to the drawing board later this year to find funding solutions. She said the RFA as it stands can’t support the county’s growth and need.
“We’re outpacing ourselves,” she said. “It’s not just the fire last night, it’s culminating. It’s about how things are for us on a daily basis; we’re in fear every day something will happen and we can’t be there.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 7:41 AM.
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