A former fire chief died in an early Monday morning fire in a double-wide mobile home near Black Lake in Thurston County, according to Fire Chief Leonard Johnson with the McLane Black Lake Fire Department.
Olympia Firehouse 5, a nonprofit organization, identified the victim as Lyall Smith in a social media post. Smith was hired in 1979 as McLane Black Lake’s first fire chief.
According to a news release from Johnson, units were dispatched at 7:14 a.m. to a fully involved residential structure fire in the 3800 block of Sapp Road Southwest. Responding crews arrived to find the home fully involved in fire along with the carport and multiple vehicles.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and received a report that the homeowner was possibly still inside. Smith was removed from the structure, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Other agencies that responded to the incident included the Tumwater Fire Department, East Olympia Fire District 6 and West Thurston Regional Fire Authority.
