Fire destroyed a mobile home and damaged an abandoned motel near the Great Wolf Lodge in south Thurston County early Wednesday morning.
Rob Smith, Interim Fire Chief at West Thurston Regional Fire Authority, said fire crews responded to the 20300 block of Old Highway 99 at about 4:55 a.m. The fire started at the single-wide mobile home and then spread to a room in a nearby abandoned motel, Smith said.
They extinguished the blaze in about 35 minutes, and no one was hurt, he said.
The cause of the blaze remained under investigation, he added.
Smith said no one appeared to be at the mobile home, but he believes someone may have been living there.
"We suspect it may have been temporary housing for somebody, but they fled the scene before we arrived," Smith said. "So, we can't locate them at this point."
To access a fire hydrant, fire crews closed Old Highway 99 near the scene for about 90 minutes, Smith said.
About 16 people from four different fire agencies responded to the blaze, he said. In addition to the WTRFA, Smith said there were personnel from the Southeast Thurston Fire Authority, East Olympia Fire Department and the Riverside Fire Authority.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Thurston County that extended from Wednesday at noon to midnight Thursday night. Given these conditions, Smith advised residents to be mindful of the high fire danger and avoid starting recreational fires.
