All hands on deck as businesses, residents rush to help put out brush fire in Marysville
MARYSVILLE, Wash. - Officials in Marysville are still trying to determine what caused a brush fire along I-5 Monday afternoon. Wind carrying the blaze ignited vegetation, consumed trees and charred everything in its way.
Marysville Fire Chief Ned Vander Pol says 911 calls started coming in around 4:30 p.m. as smoke grew between mile markers 203 and 206. Multiple agencies responded but says crews called for backup as the fire was growing rapidly and spreading to nearby businesses.
Vander Pol says over 100 firefighters were on scene from agencies all throughout the county,
'We are very appreciate to our neighbors from Everett all the way down to South County Fire," he said.
However, he says businesses and patrons jumped in and lent a helping hand.
"The business owners were very cooperative and helpful some even stuck around to help control some of the fire before we could get fire engines there. So really nice to see that involvement on their part as well," Vader Pol said.
Danny's Pub and Grill manager Aubrey Butler was one of those who sprung into action.
"All I could see was smoke so we started loading up some buckets and watching everything making sure it didn’t get to the bar," Butler said. "We were just filling up buckets and taking it over the corner along the fence coming up along the plastic; we tried to wet the plastic and the beauty bark and get all the cars out front we were busy we had to evacuate."
The flames kept growing. Marysville Police and Washington State Patrol helped with road closures and directing traffic on the highway as Chief Vander Pol says the blaze crossed the railroad.
This is the first significant fire the city has had so far. Vader Pol said it was a combination of a few things that contributed to the rapid fire spread, like dry conditions and wind.
"Today, the wind was up to about 20 miles an hour and at some points, gusting, so that really pushes that fire along. The other third piece is topography-- it's very flat there, but on the whole, a bit of wind on you can see how fast the fire grew," he said.
The weather made their fight that much more challenging.
"If there had been no wind on this fire, it would have just gone straight up in the air basically. But because the wind is pushing it, you can see exactly where the wind was coming from because you can see where the fire went," Vander Pol said.
Traffic was at a standstill as officials shut down lanes on I-5 as the fire spread to about five acres with flames right up against the highway.
"Looking at some of the businesses and while there is some minor damage, and that's something that we are we feel very badly about for those business owners," Mayor Jon Nehring said. "I think the great work of our fire district here and all the surrounding agencies kept this from being a lot worse."
It's still unclear how many businesses were impacted; however, Vander Pol says none suffered significant damage.
The cause remains under investigation.