Just one side of the office-storage building remained standing on Monday afternoon at Cenex.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Whatever clues might have existed as to what ignited the Cenex building in Chehalis burned up in the fire, according to the fire chief.
Fire investigators spent the past two days exploring the scene at the 100 block of Northwest State Avenue, just north of Main Street.
“The damage was so extensive, they could not determine the cause,” Chehalis Fire Department Chief Ken Cardinale said today. “We were dealing with 2000 degree temperatures.”
The business was closed when flames were reported about 10:34 p.m. on Sunday.
Approximately 30 firefighters from four departments battled the blaze that mostly consumed the office-storage building, dealing with ongoing explosions of the contents.
The building held numerous 55-gallon drums of lubricating oil among other petroleum products, according to Cardinale.
Cenex includes a gas station, but the business also provides bulk delivery of various fuels including propane. Crews worked through the night keeping cool the numerous liquefied petroleum gas tanks on site to prevent them from exploding.
Cardinale said investigators spoke to workers and also to the individual who first reported the fire.
No problems had been reported by the company with its building, such as electrical issues, but the initial caller was able to say the fire at first was seen at the southwest corner of the building, according to the chief.
Investigators focused around that area, but didn’t find anything, the chief said.
A common aspect of fire investigations would be to take samples or have a dog sniff for accelerants, but the building contained mostly hydrocarbons, so that wasn’t an option, according to Cardinale.
An estimated dollar loss won’t be available until after the private contractor finishes cleaning up the surrounding area next week, Cardinale said.
At one point during the fire, the department stopped putting water on it and allowed it to burn, to reduce the amount of contaminated run off.
Cardinale said the adjacent dirt field should be cleaned up by tomorrow, but the contractor will be working next week on cleaning up culverts as well as a retention pond next to Interstate 5.
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For background, read “Fire claims Cenex in Chehalis” from Monday May 2, 2016, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Interesting article. @Plenty I’m curious what DOT laws they were breaking regarding the tanks and if the drums being used were up to U/N and DOT spec.
That place was notorious for breaking DOT laws regarding lpg tanks. None the less, it’s a shame!
Poof!
They always know when it’s an “arson fire” because they didn’t set it themselves for insurance purposes. Buildings mysteriously go up in flames for ‘undetermined reasons’ a lot in Lewis County.
Not surprising. Most fires in this county are “undetermined” by our “investigators”.