OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Eight people were moved to new housing after a multi-family employee housing building at Lake Crescent was heavily damaged in a fire Tuesday evening, according to park officials.
The fire was reported at about 6:50 p.m. in an employee housing building southeast of Lake Crescent Lodge, on the east side of Lake Crescent Road.
Fire investigators could not immediately determine the cause of the fire Tuesday, and no information was available Wednesday afternoon.
The building was not one of the historic structures in the Lake Crescent Lodge complex, and none of the historic buildings used by visitors was damaged, said Barb Maynes, spokeswoman for Olympic National Park.
The lodge was built in 1916, and the Roosevelt Cabins were built in the 1940s.
Maynes said the four-plex housing building was used for employees of Aramark Management Services, which operates the lodge.
At least two of the units in the building were heavily damaged, she said.
No one was in the building at the time of the fire.
All eight residents have been rehoused in other park employee housing, Maynes said.
Park crews were scheduled to evaluate the building Wednesday afternoon for repair, removal or replacement, she said.
Discovered fire
When the fire was discovered by an employee, the flames were reported to be spreading into trees and underbrush.
Two lodge workers on the scene gathered fire extinguishers and tried to put the fire out before firefighters arrived, said Assistant Chief Mike DeRousie of Clallam County Fire District No. 2.
Night manager Dustin Humes and Bradwell Gardner hooked up a fire hose to a hydrant to slow the fire’s progress while waiting for fire crews to arrive and were able to put out the brush fire, DeRousie said.
Fire District No. 2 firefighters responded with 21 firefighters, two engines, a fast-attack brush rig, a medic unit and a command vehicle.
Clallam County Fire District No. 4 came from Joyce with a water tender and fire engine.
Clallam County Fire District No. 3, Sequim, moved an engine and crew to Station 21 in the Gales Addition neighborhood to cover Fire District No. 2 while firefighters were occupied at Lake Crescent.
The Port Angeles Fire Department was also dispatched to the Lake Crescent fire but was canceled midroute because the fire was under control.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
