Ecology spill crews respond to Olympia warehouse fire

The Department of Ecology has wrapped up its work in assisting the city of Olympia’s efforts to prevent a storm drain from releasing an estimated 500 gallons of firefighting water and possibly other contaminants into Budd Inlet’s East Bay from last night’s warehouse fire downtown.

The city is using vacuum trucks to remove the contents from the storm drain, but an unrecoverable sheen is visible in East Bay.

The building, owned by Acme Fuel Company, contained a fuel truck with a reported 300 gallons on board and at least five 55-gallon drums of diesel fuel and fuel additives. The fire is out, but instability of the structure has prevented teams from entering to determine whether or not the tanker and drums, some of which are bulging, have burst.

Ecology spill response crews were called to the three-alarm blaze at about 5 this morning. The building was fully engulfed when they arrived.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

A Department of Ecology spills crew responded to a three-alarm
warehouse fire in Olympia this morning.

Bulging, 55-gallon drums of fuel additives can be seen in the
rubble of the Olympia warehouse destroyed by fire.

by Dave Bennett, Communications Manager, SWRO