By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A wild fire that started about two miles southeast of Tenino yesterday afternoon was contained last night but personnel from the state Department of Natural Resources are at the fire station this morning and likely will be utilizing one of the school buildings as a base to support further work on that parcel and also on another fire that flared up yesterday evening.
Thurston County Fire District 12 was called about 3:11 p.m. to unimproved property at the 17200 block of Crane Street Southeast, on Bluemauer Hill for a brush fire reported to be about five feet by five feet, according to District 12 Battalion Chief Jim Fowler .
“Within just a few minutes, it was a 10-acre fire,” Fowler said this morning.
Members of nine other fire departments joined them, to work on extinguishing grass, brush, trees and other vegetation, he said.
By about 7:30 p.m., an eight-foot wide path was bulldozed around it, he said.
A shack and two vehicles on the 40-acre parcel burned, according to Fowler.
Crews arrived from as far away as Napavine to protect homes as close as 300 feet away, he said.
Fowler said the property previously belonged to a timber company, and he believes it now belongs to a man who uses it for outdoor parties, one of which began Friday night and went into Saturday night, he said.
The scene was turned over to DNR about 8 p.m.
Fowler said it grew to about 13 acres. A spokesperson from DNR last night described at around 20 acres.
Members of Tenino’s District 12 are assisting DNR with mopup there this morning, he said.
“Then of course there’s the threat of lightning over the next couple of days, so I think they’re going to stay,” Fowler said of DNR.
DNR is working a second fire that began last night about a mile to the east of the Crane Street fire, off Johnson Creek Road Southeast, at a gravel pit on timberland owner by Weyerhaeuser, according to Fowler.
A 10-person DNR hand crew is out there this morning “limbing” trees, he said. Fowler this morning said he understood that fire covered about six acres. It’s an area where there are no homes and can’t be accessed by trucks, he said.
Fowler has a DNR level three incident management team with him this morning at the fire station, and noted he understood the wildfire in Shelton that also began yesterday afternoon is pretty much out.