Tag: Fire

Tweets from the Sehome High School fire


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | February 26, 2013

By Caleb Hutton

BELLINGHAM — Last night’s three-alarm fire in the boiler room of Sehome High School turned out to be a lot less devastating than most three-alarm fires.

In fact, I kind of doubt many high school students were devastated to hear school’s cancelled until repairmen can replace a blown transformer. The apparent equipment failure led to a lot of heavy smoke and a few small flames at 11:55 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25.

Photo by Colin Diltz.

Nobody was hurt and damage was contained to a 30-by-30-foot detached brick building on the east side of campus.

We’re continuing to update the story as info rolls in. Officials haven’t said yet if classes will resume Wednesday.

For now, here are some photos of the scene. And here’s a Twitter feed timeline of the fire as it happened.

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Smoke, but no fire at Bellingham YMCA


Written by | 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:

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Fire destroys garage on Giles Road (w/photos)


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | January 18, 2013

By Caleb Hutton

A garage used for woodworking burned to the ground Thursday night, Jan. 17, east of Blaine.

Before:

Courtesy of the Whatcom County Assessor’s Office.

During:

Courtesy of North Whatcom Fire & Rescue.

And I don’t have an after photo, but … well, it goes without saying, it was a total loss.

The fire at 8899 Giles Road was called in at 9:22 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find the shed beyond saving, said North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Division Chief Henry Hollander. The above photo was taken moments after the first fire engine showed up.

So firefighters focused on keeping the flames from spreading to the nearby house. It took about 20 minutes before the flames were knocked down. Three hours and 3,000 gallons of water later, first-responders finally cleared the scene.

Hollander estimated the damage at $10,000 for the structure and $25,000 for the table saws and other woodworking tools stowed inside.

The county fire marshal is investigating the cause, but right now the evidence points to a wood stove the homeowner was using to keep the 24-by-24-foot detached garage warm, Hollander said.


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Two recent Whatcom County fires ruled accidents


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | December 27, 2012

By Caleb Hutton

Two fires in north Whatcom County were ruled accidents this week by the fire marshal.

The info comes from Fire Marshal Will Anderson.

  • Fire No. 1. A 50-by-100-foot barn at 9451 Swanson Road was destroyed Dec. 16, when a homeowner intentionally left an oil heater on overnight for his John Deere tractor. An electrical problem sparked the blaze. It was the first time he’d used the heater this year. The structure was mostly a roof, with concrete siding to support it. Damage was estimated at $100,000.


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  • Fire No. 2. A 20-by-30-foot home on Henley Street in Birch Bay was ruled “undetermined,” but an accident. The resident, a man in his 50s, was awakened by the smoke at 5:55 a.m. Dec. 17, and suffered burns to his feet as he escaped. The home — a vacation-style house built in the mid-20th century — burnt down to almost nothing. The most likely cause of the fire was a baseboard heater that was too close to a pile of the resident’s belongings. But Anderson said because no crime is suspected, he’d leave it up to the insurance company to investigate further. The day after the fire, some smoke was reported coming from the charred remains. It turned out to be minor and was quickly extinguished.


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  • Fire No. 3. See this story that will be in tomorrow’s paper. The lede: “A buildup of peanut dust and debris is suspected of causing a small fire in the Golden Nut Company’s roasting room earlier this week, the Whatcom County fire marshal said Thursday, Dec. 27.” Here’s the story that was in today’s paper.


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Apartment fire closes Wise Buys for several weeks


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | December 20, 2012

By Caleb Hutton

BELLINGHAM — Downtown thrift shop Wise Buys will be closed for several weeks because of sprinkler damage from an upstairs apartment fire, the store’s operators announced Thursday, Dec. 20.

Firefighters and police are investigating how the apartment caught fire Saturday. The flames were contained to a single unit, but the water caused a lot more damage than the fire or heat, said Roger Christensen, acting chief of the Bellingham Fire Department.

He wouldn’t say if investigators suspect arson.

“Arson is a finding,” not a label that can be put on an active investigation, he said. Christensen declined to release much information this week. I’ll be checking back soon.

Here’s most of the press release from Wise Buys.

The water damage occurred Saturday, Dec. 15 in response to a fire in an apartment above Wise Buys, located at 1224 N. State St.

Wise Buys is operated by volunteers from Lydia Place, a nonprofit, community-based serving homeless people since 1989. Since Wise Buys is completely run by volunteers, all of its proceeds go to Lydia Place.

“The repairs will be covered by insurance,” said Emily O’Connor, executive director of Lydia Place. “However, much of our merchandise was either damaged or related to the holidays, so we could use donations of gently used clothing and household items when Wise Buys reopens in January.”

Updates about Wise Buys will be available on Lydia Place’s Facebook page and by calling Lydia Place at (360) 671-7663. The public is asked to withhold donations of clothing and household items until the store reopens.

Wise Buys originally was launched in 1974 as Y’s Buys and run by the Bellingham YWCA until Lydia Place assumed operations in the early 1990s.

Lydia Place provides a six-month, multifaceted residential program that supports women and children in their transition from homelessness to independence. Lydia Place also offers support and services for local residents in subsidized housing.

For more information about Lydia Place, call (360) 671-7663 or visit www.lydiaplace.org.


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News roundup: Crêpe fire, home cooking fire, St. Paul’s kids study jail sites


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | December 6, 2012

By Caleb Hutton

Does it really count as a roundup if it’s only three things?

Here are a couple of blurbs from other reporters, and one blurb from yesterday evening.

1. From Dave Gallagher’s Biz Blog.

– According to its Facebook page, AB Crepes on Railroad is closed today and possibly for a few more days because an electrical fire has cut power to the restaurant.

2. From Zoe Fraley’s School Days Blog.

The public just got its first look this week at the sites that could be the home of a new county jail.

St. Paul’s Academy teacher David Fayram is already incorporating the issue into his high school geography class.

…

The students will read consultant reports for each site and try to persuade a student panel of which site is best, based on a variety of geographic criteria.

See the proposed jail sites here. Those PDFs include maps the county council and public didn’t see during an unveiling by County Executive Jack Louws on Tuesday evening, Dec. 4. Apparently some of the proposals were turned in late, and that prevented them from getting into the PowerPoint presentation.

3. At 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, South Whatcom firefighters rushed to Lakeview Road — pretty much across the street from the nearest fire station — to respond to a kitchen fire.

The fire authority posted some much better photos on Facebook. Here they are.

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Burn ban lifted in Whatcom County


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | October 16, 2012

By Caleb Hutton

A ban on open burning in unincorporated Whatcom County has been lifted as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15.

We got a healthy dose of rain in the past couple days, so this shouldn’t come as too surprising.

From the desk of Deputy Fire Marshal Wain Harrison:

Due to the recent rain and increase in fuel moisture levels, the Whatcom County Fire Marshal’s Office will be lifting the restrictions on all open burning in unincorporated Whatcom County starting 09:00 am Tuesday, October 16, 2012.

A permanent ban on open burning remains in effect in the Cities of Bellingham, Lynden, Ferndale, Blaine, Everson, Nooksack, Sumas, Birch Bay, Kendall, the Cherry Point area and their Urban Growth areas.

If you live in an area where open burning is allowed and want to have a fire you can call (360) 676-6934 to get up to date information on obtaining a burn permit or stop by the Permit Center located at the corner of Northwest and Smith Rd.

If you have any questions on open burning in Whatcom County, please contact the Whatcom County Fire Marshal’s Office at 360-676-6907. Always use extreme caution and follow all regulations when burning.

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Thursday sporadic scanner chatter


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | October 4, 2012

By Caleb Hutton

Some things we overheard on the scanner throughout the day today.

(This was Carrie Littlefield, who will show up in tomorrow’s jail log.)

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Photos of the Glacier cabin fire


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | October 4, 2012

By Caleb Hutton

Here are a couple of photos of a cabin fire near Glacier this afternoon. The cause is still under investigation. Nobody was hurt, but one cabin was destroyed and the other took heavy damage. We’re posting a full story right now.

These were sent in by Elaine Christie, who was having lunch at the Chair 9 restaurant right down the street.


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Barn stuffed with hay burns near Deming


Written by | The Bellingham Herald | September 18, 2012

By Caleb Hutton

DEMING — A large barn took some serious damage from what appeared to be an accidental fire near Deming on Monday evening, Sept. 17.

Firefighters arrived at Macaulay Road about 7 p.m. to find the 60-by-40 foot barn, with 12-foot additions on each side, engulfed in flames, said Whatcom Fire District 1 Chief Mel Blankers. The roof was already burning through.

The flames were knocked down within minutes. The fire smoldered, however, and it took much longer to clear the scene. Tenders full of thousands of gallons of water were brought in from neighboring fire districts.

Taking a “rough, wild” guess, the fire chief estimated the 50-year-old barn was worth maybe $75,000, including the hay inside its two wings.

The property was probably used as a dairy in the past. But nowadays, Blankers said, “I don’t even think they milk the cows.”

The exact cause of the fire is under investigation by the county fire marshal. Unofficially, Blankers said it appeared to be an accident. The owners of the property were at the scene when the fire started, Blankers said — but couldn’t elaborate because he had to jump to a report of a semi crash. (And I’m going to post about that right after this.)


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