Firefighters Contain Oil Spill Amid Blaze

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Fire crews were able to contain the majority of the 2,000 gallons of oil spilled during a fire Sunday night at a Chehalis gas station before it could reach nearby storm drains, Chehalis Fire Chief Ken Cardinale told The Chronicle Monday morning. 

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Cardinale said.

The Chehalis Fire Department responded at 10:34 p.m. Sunday night to a fire alarm at Cenex in the 100 block of Northwest State Avenue in Chehalis. 

Crews arrived to find flames burning through the building’s roof, Cardinale said. 

The building contained roughly 2,000 gallons of lubricating oil in storage before it caught fire, he said. 

“Once that got involved with us using extinguishing methods … we started to have a runoff problem,” he said. 

The Cenex location is officially a CHS facility, which is a farmer-owned cooperative, said corporate communications director Lani Jordan in an email to The Chronicle.

The location includes retail fuel pumps, an office and a warehouse with lubricant products, which is what burned in Sunday night’s fire.

At about midnight, firefighters noticed the water and oil runoff was in danger of overwhelming dikes placed around storm drains. They stopped actively fighting the fire in an effort to reduce that runoff, Cardinale said, and instead focused on preventing the fire from spreading.

“We basically let the rest of the product in the building burn off,” he said. “… We did try applying Class B foam before about 11 o’clock. That did not have an affect on it.”

About 30 firefighters from the Chehalis Fire Department, Riverside Fire Authority, Lewis County Fire District 6 and West Thurston Regional Fire Authority responded.

Firefighters notified personnel from the Washington State Patrol, which contacted a contractor to clean up the hazardous materials, Cardinale said. The state Department of Ecology was also on the scene.

An Ecology representative was not able to speak with The Chronicle Monday.

While firefighters kept the contaminated water and oil from seeping into storm drains, much of the soil in the area is also now contaminated and will need to be removed, Cardinale said. 

“We are committed to thorough remediation of the site and surrounding area,” Jordan said in an email. “The cause of the fire is not known at this time nor is there an estimate of damage. CHS will conduct a full investigation into the incident.”

Portions of West Main Street and Northwest State Avenue near the scene of the fire were closed until about 12:30 p.m. Monday as crews worked to clean up water and oil on the road.

Lewis County Public Health and Social Services warned residents that high temperatures Monday could cause the smoke to remain in the air throughout the day. 

Smoke could have a negative effect on infants, pregnant women or people with lung or cardiovascular conditions. 

Symptoms of reactions to the smoke could include wheezing, shortness of breath or a severe headache. 

Residents who develop those symptoms are encouraged to stay inside with windows and doors closed and contact their health provider.