Early fire burns offices, but spares Whatcom soccer fields and concession stand

A good portion of the office building at the Phillips 66 Soccer Park north of Bellingham will likely have to be torn down and rebuilt after an early-morning fire Monday.

At 6:06 a.m., Whatcom County Fire District No. 7 crews were called to a structure fire at 5238 Northwest Drive, and arrived to find the south end of the office building “pretty well involved in fire,” chief Larry Hoffman said.

“Crews were able to knock it down and keep it to the south end of the building,” Hoffman said, “but the rest of the building had pretty heavy water and smoke damage.”

No damage was done to the soccer fields or the concession area, Hoffman said, but the office building, which also had a storage area, a meeting room and restrooms, had “significant damage,” after crews had to tear down some walls and ceilings while battling the blaze.

Hoffman, who said one of the two offices was a complete loss, estimated the damage to be between $75,000. He said the fire inspector was already on scene and looking into the cause.

Phillips 66 Soccer Park is a private soccer facility operated by the non-profit Whatcom Sports and Recreation. The complex, which is home to the Baker Blast and Phillips 66 Rimland Challenge youth soccer tournaments during the summer, has nine full-size grass soccer fields and two lighted artificial turf fields for youth and adult soccer programs in the county.

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 9:06 AM.