An Army National Guard Black Hawk assists crews in putting out a brush fire near Bordeaux on Tuesday.
Some community members were granted access through the roadblock to go retreive livestock and other animals from the area.
Police officers block 128th Avenue SW in Littlerock as crews work to put out flames from a brush fire Tuesday afternoon near Bordeaux.
Sunlight illuminates smoke in the air while police officers block 128th Avenue SW in Littlerock as crews work to put out flames from a brush fire Tuesday afternoon near Bordeaux.
Local and state firefighters have contained the Bordeaux Fire — sparked Tuesday by a blown transformer — after working through the night trying to corral it.
“There are still hot spots being put out, so we have stopped the forward momentum of the fire,” West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Captain Lanette Dyer said. “At this point now we are just trying to mop up, trying to make sure those hot areas don’t rekindle.”
Dyer said 290 acres of land, most of it wildland, burned up and at least one house caught on fire. Dyer said she did not have a map of the affected areas but they were west of Littlerock and north of Rochester.
At this point, the exact number of people displaced because of the fire is unknown. According to Dyer the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office forgot to get a head count as they were evacuating people.
“It was a very fast evacuation,” Dyer said. “So in their defense, I wouldn’t have time to go, ‘1...2...3’ so it was very fast moving.
But West Thurston Fire Authority received approximately 200 inquiries about available resources for victims of the fire, Dyer said.
Dyer also added that they had initially thought two houses were caught in the fire, but had received a report Wednesday morning that the same house may have been counted twice.
More would likely be known about the total destruction of the fire Wednesday night, Dyer said.
Wednesday morning was a bit of a transition period, as new crews were briefed on the condition of the fire and old ones clocked out. The plan for Wednesday was “mopping up” the hot spots that could potentially rekindle as it gets warmer throughout the day, Dyer said, and damage assessment.
The conditions were good enough Wednesday morning for the evacuation orders that had been put in place in the surrounding areas of the fire to be lifted and a single lane on Mima Road Southwest was opened up for local traffic only.
“We know people need to get up to their homes and are eager to see what damage is there,” Dyer said. “We’re trying to alleviate that concern … but also trying to limit the traffic that is coming in.
The fire started at approximately 1:58 p.m. on Tuesday after a transformer blew at the intersection of Mima Road Southwest and Bordeaux Road Southwest. Winds spread the flames into wildlife quickly, Dyer said.
At 3:25 p.m. on Tuesday, a level 3 was put in place on Mima Road Southwest, from Bordeaux Road South to Mima Gate Road and a level 2 evacuation order was also put in place for a mile radius surrounding the affected area.
Shortly thereafter, The Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office announced it would be sending state firefighters to help out the local crews contain the fire, according to a news release.
State Patrol Chief John Batiste made the decision to get the help of state firefighting resources at 4 p.m. at the request of West Regional Fire Authority Fire Chief Russ Kaleiwahea.
The State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Murray also helped coordinate assistance for the state firefighters.
For those affected by the wildfire and need assistance, including help with shelter, you can call the American Red Cross at 571-595-7723.
