Routine maintenance sparks fire 60 feet underground at Brightwater Treatment Plant

There was a massive firefighter response at the Brightwater Treatment facility near Woodinville on Tuesday. A fire broke out during a routine maintenance operation, sending flames some four stories below ground.

Firefighters from at least six local agencies responded. No one was seriously hurt

This is one fire we couldn’t see. It is certainly unusual. The fires we usually cover are above ground.

Wisps of smoke were the only evidence of the fire raging some 60 feet below ground, the equivalent of a four-story building.

“Exactly,” said a spokesman for Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue, Peter Mongillo. “Sixty feet underground, confined space, underground.”

He said it was the fact, that the fire spread to a confined space, that made it so tricky to fight.

So, a two-alarm commercial fire went to a three-alarm technical rescue, to summon firefighters trained to fight fires in tight spaces.

“We needed about 15 of those firefighters from all across the county to come here and assist and put the fire out,” Mongillo said.

He said the fire started when some contractors were doing maintenance work, fusing plastic pipes that then ignited. Two contractors were evaluated for smoke inhalation as the flames quickly spread. But not even firefighters could see them.

“Yeah, when you don’t have eyes on the fire, how do you plan for it?” said Mongillo. “You’re blind.”

Brightwater is one of three regional wastewater treatment plants. It serves Northeast King County and Southeast Snohomish County.

This facility has been controversial. Numerous lawsuits were filed, most involving the natural habitat. Still, the plant went online in 2012. And it is now considered a state-of-the-art facility.

The fire took nearly four hours to put out.

This portion of the facility was offline for that maintenance work. So, operations here never stopped. And firefighters left an hour and a half after the fire was out.

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