Weekend fire: ‘That shop was loaded with tires, and each tire is like a can of gasoline’
A heavy, black smoke blocking Guide Meridian greeted firefighters when they arrived late Saturday at the Bolton Tire Pros shop in Lynden, but that smoke rapidly developed into a fully-involved fire.
A second alarm was sounded, Lynden Fire Department Chief Mark Billmire told The Bellingham Herald Monday, July 18, but that was not enough to save the business that was located at 8165 Guide Meridian Road. Billmire said nobody was injured in the blaze, though a man in a travel trailer and a dog inside the shop were on site at the time the fire started.
“That shop was loaded with tires, and each tire is like a can of gasoline,” Billmire said. “Every tire burns very hot and very quickly. ... It progressed really rapidly.”
Making matters more difficult, Billmire said, was that Bolton had just taken a shipment of approximately 80 new tires, meaning the store’s inventory was relatively full.
Fire investigators from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and Lynden Police Department were on site Sunday, July 17, attempting to determine what started the fire, Billmire said. That investigation continued Monday, Lynden Police Chief Steve Taylor told The Herald in an email.
The first call of the fire came in at approximately 11:30 p.m. Saturday, July 18, Billmire said, and North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Chief Jason Van der Veen served as incident commander.
“Our neighbors really helped us out on this one,” Billmire said. “I think we stripped resources from all four of their firehouses to come help us. That’s how the mutual aid in this county works — we rely on each other. We really appreciate Chief Van der Veen and North Whatcom and the folks in Ferndale for helping us fight this one.”
In all, Billmire said there were five engines, a ladder truck from Bellingham and more than 20 firefighters on scene. Some of them remained on scene until after 7 a.m. Sunday.
Once the fire got rolling, Billmire said there was little they could do to save the business, though they did limit damage from spreading to a nearby storage facility that houses a number of recreational vehicles.
After investigators wrapped up their on-scene investigation Sunday, Billmire said crews had to knock down what was still standing due to safety concerns.
According to its website, Bolton Tire Pros has been locally owned and operated since 2016, selling tires for passenger vehicles, motorcycles, RVs, trailers and farm equipment. The shop also did alignments, brake repairs, steering and suspension work, batteries and more.
This story was originally published July 18, 2022 at 10:09 AM.
CORRECTION: The fire agency that supplied the ladder truck was corrected July 18, 2022.
