Attempt to put out grease fire in Olympia ends badly

An effort to extinguish a stove-top fire in a pan didn’t go as planned Thursday evening when the fire spread and damaged an apartment, according to the Olympia Fire Department.

Firefighters aid the residents tried to put out the fire by dousing the flaming pan in the bathroom tub — which was plastic and caught fire itself.

Olympia fire crews, with support from Lacey Fire District 3, responded to a fire in the 3800 block of 22nd Avenue Southeast about 6 p.m. Thursday

Crews extinguished the blaze in the second-floor unit, but not before it caused about $75,000 in damage. The American Red Cross is assisting the displaced apartment residents.

No one was injured.

The fire, which was thought to be a grease fire, started in a stove-top pan. After the pan caught fire, the residents took the pan to the bathroom to douse the flames with water, but the fire spread “to the plastic tub and shower enclosure and then to the rest of the unit,” according to a news release.

A grease fire should be smothered, either with the lid for the pan or a baking sheet, for example, rather than with water, which can cause a grease fire to spread, Olympia Deputy Fire Chief Greg Wright said.

Fire officials said there were no fire sprinklers in the structure.

This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Attempt to put out grease fire in Olympia ends badly."