Hillside fire in Tumwater Valley extinguished minutes before fireworks show there

A brush fire lit up one side of Tumwater Valley on July 4; Tumwater Fire Department extinguished it in approximately seven minutes, less than 45 minutes prior to the start of the Thunder Valley Fireworks Show there.

The fire started at approximately 9:20 p.m., close to the bottom of the valley. Within minutes it spread up the hill in two strips.

Several thousand people attending the City of Tumwater's Artesian Family Festival witnessed the fire from just a few hundred feet across the valley. Telephone callers to TCOMM (Thurston  911 Communications) to report the fire found the lines to T-COMMS jammed.

Seen from Tumwater Hill, the fire on July 4, 2023 burned hillside grasses and extended up the hill leading toward Cleveland Avenue.

The Tumwater Fire Department extinguished nearly all of the Tumwater Valley Independence Day 2023 fire just seven minutes after calls came into …