Major Thurston Co. road closed as crews fight antique store fire for 24 hours
Yelm Highway was completely shut down between Meridian Road and Englewood Drive on Monday morning after a fire broke out in an antique store.
According to a social media post from Lacey Fire District 3 on Feb. 23, LFD3 units were still working at around 9:45 a.m. to put out a fire in an antique store in the 9000 block of Yelm Highway Southeast. Battalion Chief Tim Hulse told The Olympian that the first units arrived at around 5:45 a.m. and encountered heavy smoke conditions and limited visibility.
The main fire on the first floor was located and knocked down, according to LFD3. However, it had already spread into the overhead storage and loft area.
“Crews made multiple attempts to access this overhead/loft area,” according to the post. “Due to the heavy fire load and access issues (narrow hallways with floor to ceiling storage) the decision was made to switch to a defensive strategy.”
Hulse said units would likely be working over the next 24 hours to control the fire and protect exposures. He said Yelm Highway would stay closed for some time, but the hope was to open at least one direction by the afternoon. Hulse told The Olympian about 2:30 p.m. Monday that the road was expected to open within an hour.
Hulse said nobody was in the building at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported. He said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“Huge shout-out to our friends at Thurston County Sheriff’s Office for controlling traffic and the hard-working team at PSE for securing power,” the LFD3 post said. “Both made our job a little safer this morning.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 11:44 AM.
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