Fire rips through old Olympia brewery building in Tumwater

Firefighters were called to a 3-alarm fire at the old Olympia brewery in Tumwater early Monday morning.

The fire is at the brewery complex at Custer Way and Capitol Boulevard Southeast, which drivers on I-5 can see while passing through Tumwater. The fire is not at the nearby historic lakeside brewery (also abandoned), or at the site of a new distilling and brewing center across the street.

RELATED: New distilling, brewing center opens across from Tumwater brewery

The fire was first reported at 2:01 a.m.

TUMWATER – firefighters still battling blaze near Olympia Brewery. No one was hurt, started around 2a. Partial collapse on the left. No electricity in the building, they believe may have been human caused @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/ONY5uOmO86

— Rob Munoz (@RobKIRO7) October 8, 2018

“Crews arrived on scene, the building was fully involved …” Jim McGarva with the Tumwater Fire Department told KIRO 7. “No injuries have been reported. As far as we know the building was unoccupied. It has been vacant for several years. It is my understanding that there is no power to the building.”

By 5:45 a.m. McGarva said that the fire was under control and considered a defensive fire. Crews continued hitting the flames with water over the morning.

“We did have a partial building collapse on the backside of the building,” he said.

McGarva said that the cause of the fire is unknown. The Olympian reports that the state Department of Ecology is monitoring the Deschutes River that runs alongside the brewery site for potential impacts.

KIRO 7’s Rob Munoz reports that while the building was vacant at the time, the property owner has reported squatters on the site.

The Olympia brewery has sat silent, not producing beer since 2003 after the Olympia brand had been sold to another company. Other brewers had attempted to keep the building running, but nothing would stick.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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