ROCHESTER — A fast-moving brush fire was contained to one and a half acres after it briefly threatened a residential neighborhood north of Rochester Thursday afternoon.
West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Chief Robert Scott said crews were dispatched to the 9000 block of 173rd Avenue Southwest at 2:31 for a report of a brush fire that was threatening structures. When firefighters arrived, they saw flames torching backyards of several homes, but there was very little smoke.
“We had no visual on a smoke column before we got here because the wind had picked up,” Scott said.
Winds were fanning flames eastward, forcing a crew of five firefighters to spray a defensive line ahead of the area that had already burned. Mutual aid arrived from Centralia, McLane-Black Lake, Oakville and Griffin to help if needed; the Centralia crew had brought a water tender from the Harrison Avenue station.
“With a situation like this, you have to anticipate the potential,” Scott said. “There was a bunch of scotch broom in here that basically added fuel for it to burn.”
Scott said it generally takes anywhere from 15 minutes or more for mutual aid to arrive, which is why West Thurston called for help early.
“It’s better to call for help and be able to have them return to service than to not have enough help and things get bad,” Scott said.
Anne Newton, whose yard was torched by the fire, said her husband Lee had woken up and called 911 after seeing the fire next door.
“We came outside and the fire was up to our fence line,” Newton said. “With the wind and all, we were nervous.”
As of 4 p.m., pockets of burned grass and brush continued to smolder as a crew from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources arrived to monitor the scene and put out hotspots. Neighbors used hoses of their own to wet down their yards and trees in an effort to prevent the fire from flaring back up.
No homes were damaged, although one outbuilding and several trees were torched. Investigators don’t yet know what started the blaze.
“We’re thankful it’s not worse than it was,” Scott said.
•••
Christopher Brewer: (360) 807-8235
