Garage used by Whatcom water treatment company destroyed by fire Thursday morning
A detached two-car garage in Lynden used by a water treatment company to store chemicals and equipment needed to conduct business was destroyed by fire Thursday morning.
The Lynden Fire Department was called to the report of a structure fire at 8:45 a.m. March 4 in the 8600 block of Bender Road, Chief Mark Billmire told The Bellingham Herald.
“It was fully involved by the time we got there,” Billmire said. “The fire was just east of the station, and you could see a black (smoke) header as soon as we left.”
Firefighters had to fight the fire defensively, Billmire said, as they surrounded it and drowned flames with water.
“The first engine crew did a good job of knocking it down, and you could see the smoke go from dark gray or black to light gray or white pretty quick,” Billmire said. “Then it was just a matter of putting out all the hot spots.”
Billmire said the garage and all of its contents, which were used by Northwest Water Treatment and Pump Service, were lost to the fire, as was a small pickup that was parked near the garage.
But firefighters prevented flames from spreading to another, smaller shed near the garage, and the residence associated with the garage was approximately 100 feet away and suffered no damage, Billmire said.
Because the fire occurred relatively early in the day, nobody was working in the garage at the time, so there were no injuries, Billmire said.
The Whatcom County Fire Marshal’s office was on scene and investigating when firefighters wrapped up, Billmire said, and The Herald has asked investigators if a cause has been determined.
