Late on the 4th of July, a large plume of smoke over the city of Tacoma could be seen from as far away as Gig Harbor.
It came from a massive structure fire in the 1600 block of Tacoma Avenue South. As of Monday, an investigation is now underway into the fire’s cause.
Tacoma Fire Department Assistant Chief Bruce Bouyer said even as the fire was contained last night, investigators kept a close eye on the remains of the structure.
“It’s fully contained as of last night,” Bouyer said. “We left, I want to say, two engines and a ladder there just to monitor it overnight and supply water.”
Bouyer said an investigation into what caused the fire resumed at 7:30 a.m. this morning. He said that whether fireworks were involved is unclear.
“We can’t rule it out, but we can’t say it was either,” Bouyer said. “There was so much damage, there was a collapse of the building. I want to say 80 percent of the building probably had collapsed, there was one set of walls that were still up when we got there last night.”
That widespread damage will make determining the cause difficult, Bouyer said.
“It could be a number of things,” Bouyer said. “It could be fireworks. We’ll try to figure it out but there is a lot of damage so it is going to be very difficult to pinpoint what exactly it was.”
Bouyer said no nearby buildings suffered any damage, including a nearby apartment building that was given notice of the fire though not asked to evacuate.
“The apartment building that was up north and just anyone up north, we just told them to keep their windows closed,” Bouyer said.
The building was vacant and no fatalities have been reported as a result of the fire.
The location was formerly home to the Tacoma branch of Next-to-Nature, a pet supplies shop. The company moved out of the spot years ago, a representative of the business said Monday.
“We are saddened to see yet another historical building, part of Tacoma’s rich heritage, disappear. We are thankful that no one was hurt and want to extend our appreciation to the Tacoma Fire Department for their hard work protecting the surrounding area,” Beya Mark, president of Next-to-Nature’s parent company Triceford Group Inc., said in an email. “We also want to thank everyone for their concerns. We moved down the street to 2339 Tacoma Ave S 3 years ago and want to reassure the Tacoma community that our rescue animals and our business are safe.”
