Fire breaks out at homeless camp

A fire broke out at a homeless camp in Aberdeen near State Street under the Chehalis River Bridge on Monday afternoon, killing two dogs, destroying property, and briefly shutting down the bridge.

Fuel cans and live ammunition in the fire complicated the response, said Aberdeen Fire Chief Dave Golding.

“We got the call at 5:21 yesterday afternoon. It came in as a fire under the bridge, a tent on fire,” Golding said. “There was some question about occupancy, if the tent or any of the tents in the area were occupied.”

Crews responded swiftly, Golding said.

“Upon arrival, units found several tents on fire with smoke and heavy flames,” Golding said. “As crews started attacking the fire, there were several propane tanks going off, as well as a large amount of ammunition going off.”

While ammunition cooking off poses a risk to firefighters responding to the call, it’s not the same as being shot at, Golding said.

“When ammunition is going off at a fire … it’s not like the bullets are flying, like we’re being shot at, so to speak. What it is is the bullets are exploding because of the heat and the gunpowder. They become more of a shrapnel than a round being shot,” Golding said. “It can still still cause damage.”

About five or six tents were consumed in the blaze, Golding said. While no humans reported injuries, two dogs were found dead as a result of the fire, Golding said.

“The volume and nature of flammables that were there … the tents and everything that was stored within the tents … there was a lot of fuel load there for us to consider,” Golding said.

Ten firefighters from Aberdeen responded to the fire, Golding said, including himself. Fires in the various homeless encampments in the county are not uncommon, The Daily World has previously reported. The fire Monday was notable for its size, Golding said.

“I’d say it’s significant just from the standpoint of it was a good number of tents. I’d say it was a good 5-6 tents consumed potentially,” Golding said. “We’ve had (fires in the encampments) off and on. I couldn’t tell you how many. Every few months. The density of those tents — you get one of them going and it’s very easy for it to run through a number.”

The Chehalis River Bridge was briefly shut down for state inspectors to make sure the heat hadn’t compromised the structure.

“There was a period of time where there was significant heat applied to the bridge by the fire,” Golding said. “The bridge was shut down for a period of time until DOT arrived on scene to do an evaluation and ensure the bridge was still safe.”

There’s currently a burn ban on county-wide, Golding said. The cause of the fire is unknown.

“How it consumes, how it burns in a fire like this is very difficult to pinpoint an origin or cause,” Golding said. “Nobody stuck around for us to get any real good information.”

The Aberdeen Police Department is also investigating the possibility of criminal activity around the fire, said Cmdr. Steve Timmons of the APD.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or michael.lockett@thedailyworld.com.