An early morning fire destroyed two businesses in a shared building in Washougal on Sunday.
At about 12:30 a.m., fire crews responded to a building fire at 921 Fourth St. that houses Mike’s Tire & Auto and Riverside Laundry. Crews found smoke and flames coming from the building, according to a news release from the Camas-Washougal Fire Department.
No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire was determined to be a pile of sheets that spontaneously combusted and spread to the rest of the building, according to the news release.
(Courtesy of the Camas-Washougal Fire Department)
“It was fully engulfed in flames,” witness Sheila Plato said.
Plato, who works in The Columbian’s circulation department, said she heard tires popping and saw the roof of the building cave in.
Emergency crews remained on scene hours after sunrise Sunday. The building was a total loss, and the fire marshal estimated the damage to be about $150,000.
The early morning incident marked the second blaze this year in the same building.
Around 8:06 a.m. June 11, emergency crews responded to a fire inside the laundromat. The fire was contained to the attic and under control in 40 minutes, Camas-Washougal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Elvin said.
Callers in that blaze reported seeing smoke pouring from the roof of the commercial building, Elvin said. No injuries were reported.
Reporter Jack Heffernan contributed to this story.
Source: https://www.columbian.com
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