Smoke, but no fire at Bellingham YMCA

Written by Caleb Hutton | The Bellingham Herald | January 23, 2013

By Caleb Hutton

An overheating light fixture above a racquetball court likely led to the evacuation of the Bellingham YMCA building Wednesday morning, Jan. 23.

A few dozen people — children, swimmers, staff and others — were asked to leave the building after a report of smoke in a men’s locker room at 11:43 a.m.

“This had been a smell staff had been chasing and couldn’t find for some time,” said Andy Day, the firefighter in charge at the scene. “So they gave us a holler.”

Photo by Colin Diltz

The smell was similar to wood burning, so that made firefighters think it might be more serious. One block of North State Street was closed to traffic while firefighters investigated.

There was no fire, only faint smoke. It appeared the smell had wafted up a floor or two from the racquetball court downstairs, Day said. People were allowed back into the building about 45 minutes after the initial 911 call.

Here’s the Twitter feed from @bhamcrime:

#policescanner: Smoke in the lobby of YMCA on N State Street. Fire engines en route. #Bellingham

— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013

Smoke’s on the third floor. Main lobby not evacuated yet. Firefighters just ran upstairs. #Bellingham twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…

— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013

.@edmunds6677 Everyone left upper floors. People were lingering in main floor lobby. And now being evacuated.

— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013

YMCA evacuated. Smoke reported in men’s locker room. #bellingham twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…

— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013

One block if N State blocked off as firefighters investigate. Building still evacuated. #Bellingham twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…

— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013

@bhamcrime People allowed back in YMCA in just a moment.

— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013

Likely culprit of smoke in #Bellingham YMCA building: Overheating light fixture above racquetball court on first floor, firefighter says.

— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013

Tags: bellingham, Fire, ymca