Whatcom firefighters called to two fires at U.S. Post Offices within hours of each other
Firefighters in Bellingham and Ferndale were called to U.S. Post Offices in their respective cities for reports of two fires within a few hours of each other Wednesday.
Don’t worry, your bills are still on their way, as there was not an actual fire at either Post Office building.
Whatcom County Fire District 7 crews were called for the report of a commercial fire at 4:11 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17, to the Ferndale Post Office in the 2100 block of Mail Street, according to the PulsePoint app, while the Bellingham Fire Department was called for a second reported commercial fire at 7:52 p.m. to the Post Office in the 300 block of Prospect Street.
The report in Bellingham came from a Post Office employee who smelled smoke, Assistant Chief Dave Pethick told The Bellingham Herald in an email, but crews could not find a source and determined the smell was likely from outside.
The report in Ferndale, actually involved flames, but it wasn’t at the Post Office, District 7 Assistant Chief Ben Boyko told The Herald. It was instead located across the street at a vacant commercial building owned by the city of Ferndale. The fire was reported by somebody at the Post Office, and that was used as the point of reference.
The fire ended up being a small pile of garbage that was on a covered landing at the top of the stairs, Boyko said, adding that he was able to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher before there was any damage.
“The interesting thing about it is it was the third time it’s happened at that location in the past few weeks,” Boyko said.
The Ferndale Police Department extinguished the first before firefighters arrived, and Boyko said he assumed the same happened on the second, as the call was canceled before fire crews arrived.
None of the fires burned anything except the garbage, Boyko said, but police are investigating.
