A space heater is believed to have caused the fire that destroyed a Lewis County maintenance building and several pieces of heavy equipment and tools March 22 in Glenoma.
The total loss was “well over $2 million” including structural damage and equipment that was destroyed in the blaze, said Risk Management Administrator Paulette Young.
The space heater was mounted on a wall inside the building and was usually left on. Though it is suspected of sparking the fire, investigators have stopped short of officially declaring the space heater as the cause.
It is not known yet what part of the heater might have been responsible for the fire. Young said it was not caused by anything being left in front of it.
The heater is currently being evaluated to see if the suspected cause can be determined, she said.
Four dump trucks with plows, two loaders and several volumes of road files were lost in the fire.
The fire took about 40 firefighters from Morton, Mineral, Mossyrock, Randle and Packwood about four hours to get under control and an additional hour to completely extinguish.
The fire was reported at 6:15 p.m. March 22 just off of U.S. Highway 12 east of Glenoma. By the time firefighters arrived, the building was fully engulfed.
