Olympia city manager's statement about the downtown fire yesterday

Federal authorities are joining local police and fire departments in the investigation

Posted

This morning, our downtown suffered a major fire that impacted nearly a dozen thriving small businesses and destroyed the construction of much needed housing in our downtown. It is a devastating blow for the entire community.

Our hearts break for the construction workers employed to build the Market Flat Apartments and bring 44 units for future housing to downtown. We hurt for the owners of Revival Motors and Coffee and the many small business owners nurturing their dreams in that building, and Pete Lea’s Automotive Medical Center, one of the oldest businesses in our downtown. The fire also damaged the Union Gospel Vision Clinic, which offers eye exams and glasses at no fee for the most vulnerable members of our community.

The fire has also touched the structures or disrupted the work of other surrounding businesses that are suffering the loss of income from closures and the emotional strain of this event.

We are enormously grateful that no lives were lost, and no one was injured in the fire. Our Fire Department has confirmed that a family living in one of the buildings is safe and has been relocated. However, they did lose their home and belongings.

We are also fortunate to have friends. A fire of this size and complexity would not have been able to be contained as quickly and the potential damage limited so much without the help and support of our jurisdiction partners: the fire agencies of the cities of Tumwater and Lacey and local fire districts in Thurston County.

We do not now know for a fact what caused the fire. Until we know what is true, we ask that members of the community please not participate in speculation about the cause and cast blame on others in the community.
We need to act on facts and evidence.

The size and scope of the fire has triggered the attention of the Federal Government. So, the best investigative organizations in the country will be working with our Fire and Police departments to thoroughly investigate how the fire started.

In the meantime, we at the City are looking into what help looks like for these businesses and families impacted by the fire. It is the holiday season, and the impacted business owners and the entire downtown need the support and comfort of the community. I know we can count on Olympia to come through.

This was submitted by the City of Olympia and was received on December 15, 2021.

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