Firefighters respond to Sunday morning blaze

Vashon firefighters were called to a fire at an outbuilding early Sunday morning on Westside Highway. The building was fully engulfed by the time crews arrived and was destroyed by the blaze.

Doug Dolstad, whose family owns the property, said that in addition to the building itself, the largest loss was of a 1965 CJ5 Jeep that had been stored inside. It had been his as a teen and his son had hoped to restore it.

Some apple trees his grandparents planted were badly singed, he added, but he said is thankful that there was little wind when the fire started and that nearby vegetation was still wet, preventing the fire from spreading quickly and causing further damage.

Dolstad said people nearby first heard a rustling sound and thought maybe a racoon was in the bushes, but then loud explosions alerted them to the real problem.

At Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR), where the limited number of personnel able to respond to fire and medical emergencies is a concern, Assistant Chief Bob Larsen said response to this fire was good, with about a dozen career staff and volunteers on the scene.

Larsen said he did not know what caused the reported explosions, but noted that it may have been the vehicle’s tires.

While the fire drew an adequate number of responders, Larsen said that later that morning, the department was challenged to respond to nearly simultaneous aid calls.

The first of the aid calls came in about 9:50 a.m. and required an off-island transport. While the VIFR team was still busy with the first patient, another call came in, and two volunteers, who responded to the second call via private vehicle, were delayed transporting that patient because they had to wait for an ambulance to be brought to them.

It is this kind of situation — or worse — that has many close to the district raising concerns about staffing and has led the fire chief to explore options for adding part-time paid firefighters/emergency medical technicians.