Thank you to the residents of SE Thurston County (Yelm and Rainier) for continuing to support our community. Your approval of Proposition One will provide essential funding to ensure SE Thurston Fire Authority’s stations remain staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Read the complete letter here.

Effective immediately: Medic One has cancelled all CPR classes indefinitely. 

Temperatures will rise again this weekend! With our days hitting highs in the 90s (as of this posting), we at SE Thurston Fire Authority want to make sure that everyone has the information needed to stay cool out there. Here is a list of some cooling centers in Yelm and Rainier:

The Yelm Senior Center

Thursday, Aug. 12th, and Friday, Aug. 13th, the Yelm Senior Center will open its doors to the public. We will be open from noon to 8:00 pm for those without AC who need a place to escape the heat. Well Behaved Dogs/Cats Welcome

Location: 16530 103rd Avenue SE, Yelm, WA 98597

Questions? Call 360 458-7733

Yelm Timberland Library

Tuesday 10 am – 7 pm
Wednesday – Saturday 9 am – 6 pm
Closed Sundays and Holidays

Location: 210 Prairie Park Street, Yelm, WA 98597

Phone: 360-458-3374

Rainier Senior Center

108 Michigan St S, Rainier, WA 98576
Open 10 am – 9 pm when temperatures are 89 or above
Beverages and snacks

Tips for Staying Cool This Weekend

• Remember the basics: drink plenty of fluids; avoid the sun and stay in the shade; use sunscreen even if you’re outside for only a few minutes
• Don’t over-exert yourself with heavy-duty yard work or strenuous exercise during the hottest part of the day.
  NEVER leave children or pets in a hot car.
• Keep pets cool, too. Check on your outdoor pets frequently and make sure they have shelter from the sun and plenty of water.
• The heat can be hard on the young and the elderly. Check on relatives and neighbors who may be more sensitive to hot weather—young children, infants, seniors, and people with chronic illnesses are most at risk during extremely hot weather.
• Find cooler air in public places (make sure to follow current COVID-19 guidelines).
• If you don’t have air conditioning, visit a friend or family member who does.
• Buy a bag of ice.
• Use cooling rags – Soak a hand towel in cold water, or stick it in the freezer, and wear it around your neck. Exchange with a fresh towel every 10 – 15 minutes.
• Find a public space that is cool and open to the public (libraries, local retail stores, parks with shade and/or water)
• Visit a cooling station

S.E. Thurston Fire Authority
Assistant Fire Marshal
Matt Russell

3rd Tuesday Talks
When: August 17, 2021
           12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Where: Yelm Senior Center
             16530 103rd Ave SE
              Yelm WA 98597

Phone: 360 458-7733

Do you know how to use your fire extinguisher?

Matt will be here to share fire safety tips, instruct us on how to use a fire extinguisher, and answer questions!

Talk is open to the public! We would love to have you join us!

Looking for information on Proposition 1 (Levy Lid Lift)? Here is SE Thurston Fire Authority’s fact sheet about Proposition 1.

Due to extreme heat and dry conditions, the Thurston County Fire Marshal implemented the Fire Safety Burn Ban starting June 24, 2021, this year. The Burn Ban runs through Sept. 30, 2021, unless conditions warrant extending the Fire Safety Burn Ban longer. The Residential Yard Waste Burn Permit will be available again after Oct. 1, 2021.

All details can be found on ORCAA’s website.

Original article at Nisqually Valley News

One structure fire, nine brush fires and 22 total calls accounted for a “top five” busiest 24-hour period for the S.E. Thurston Fire Authority on the Fourth of July, said Fire Chief Mark King.

The structure fire was reported at 203 Jefferson Ave. in Yelm at about 11:15 p.m. on July 4, amounting to a total loss of one man’s garage.

“We don’t have a cause on it yet, however it appears to have started maybe in the rough area so the initial thought was probably some kind of fireworks device that got launched from somewhere, but we don’t have that definitive proof,” King said.

The fire authority got the call at 11:18 p.m., responded in less than five minutes and received mutual aid from Lacey Fire District 3, Bald Hills Fire District 17 and East Olympia Fire District 6, King said.

“It was well-involved when we got there, so it had a pretty good head start before we got there and we are pretty close to Jefferson,” King said.

Firefighters were on the scene until about 1:30 a.m. on July 5. They were able to isolate the blaze to the 1,200-square-foot structure and kept it away from multiple other residences located 50 to 75 feet away.

In an uncharacteristically calm night for the Yelm Police Department, Sergeant Tillman Atkins said officers formed a perimeter around the property, keeping others a safe distance back so the fire authority could complete its work.

“It did not appear that anybody got hurt,” Atkins said. “There was one gentleman that was in his home, an older gentleman that was inside the house that was very hard of hearing, and the fire was getting close to his home from the garage that was on his property. Our officers actually assisted with evacuating him.”

They also went around to neighboring houses and knocked on doors to let people know what was occurring, while advising them to wait a safe distance outdoors.

The structure fire aside, King said the fire district fought nine brush fires as well, many of them believed to be fireworks-related.

“We have no definitive proof, but I would probably say yes,” King said to the question of whether fireworks had a hand in the day’s events. “It’s an extraordinary number of events in one day for us, so given the one factor, which is the dry conditions and fireworks, we’re pretty certain that’s probably a pretty big contributing factor.”

King said he doesn’t necessarily condone a ban on the use of fireworks, but said the natural consequence of such celebrations can result in fires.

“I don’t know if I’d say don’t use them at all, but I’d probably just say that really you don’t think things will catch fire this time of year, but when it’s so dry, they tend to,” he said. “It was just the right combination of things that went wrong.”

And the conditions really were a perfect storm, he said.

“We had the dry weather and we had the state reopening,” King said. “People wanted to get back together, which we understand, and there’s just a lot of celebrations and some of those, unfortunately, caused fires and in one case, an injury. … Somebody had a firework go off and they severely injured their hand.”

He said it was nice seeing people back together after so long apart. To help facilitate the safest gatherings possible, King said the fire authority made certain preparations for the holiday.

“We brought in extra crews and gassed up for it, so it wasn’t a complete shock or overwhelming event. We knew it was going to be busy,” King said.

In the end, King said things could have been a lot worse.

“Overall, the crews were happy that we didn’t lose any more homes and we’re happy we didn’t lose any lives,” King said. “Given what could have happened, with the amount of brush fires that started, none of them got away. We were able to contain them and that’s the important part. It was a long day and night for those crews.”

Thurston County has banned the discharge of consumer fireworks in unincorporated areas of the county after officials determined weather conditions and fire danger levels are too high.

The emergency ban was implemented after discussions with the county’s manager, fire marshal and director of emergency services.

Read the complete article on the Nisqually Valley News here.

Summer is definitely here. With temperatures set to be over 100 degrees this weekend, we would like to remind people to stay safe. Remember that the water is colder than it may look and always wear your life jackets.

For more information about this heat wave, read this article from the Chronicle.