Blaze destroys vacant car wash in Tumwater late Tuesday evening
A fire destroyed a vacant car wash building near Capitol Boulevard and Gerth Street in Tumwater on Tuesday.
The Tumwater Fire Department responded to the blaze at about 9:20 p.m. arriving withing about 5 minutes of the call, said Assistant Fire Chief Shawn Crimmins. At the scene, they found a building with a roof engulfed in flames.
It took crews about 20 minutes to put out the fire, Crimmins said. No one was hurt in the blaze as the building was not occupied, he added.
Crews successfully contained the blaze to the single building so there was no damage to any surrounding structures, Crimmins said. However, the affected building sustained “significant” damage, he said.
“It’s an old-style car wash,” Crimmins said. “Really what it impacted is the roofing. It had a metal roof with wood under decking that was burnt through.”
Investigators had not yet determined what a caused the fire as of Wednesday morning, Crimmins said. The building sits next to a McDonalds and some auto repair shops.
In all, six fire engines and a ladder truck responded to the blaze, Crimmins said. Olympia Fire Department, East Olympia Fire District 6 and McLane Black Lake Fire Department assisted Tumwater crews.
