Matching Plates, but one's burnt

Unpublished news blip about a fire. Describing the scene, briefly. Some obscenity.

A van with two adult passengers pulled up to fill their propane tanks and were assisted by a White Glove Employee in the parking lot at the 76 gas station, just off of 272nd next to the Fred Meyer in Covington.

 

Minutes later the van was on fire and one of the owners, along with the employee, received non- life threatening burns. The shell was charred and black residue flaked across the lot.

 

The remaining owner stood by uninjured in crocs and a blue sleeveless shirt with a Fred Meyer basket still dangling off of her arm, talking to fire investigators.

 

What caused the fire remains under investigation but a fellow employee, Sam Bryant (a High School Junior) noticed that the tank was leaking and there was liquid everywhere. According to Bryant, he assumed that nothing was out of the ordinary.

 

“There was liquid like crazy.” Bryant said,

 

“I went to go wash other cars but I heard a scream 'a van's on fire'”.

 

Both owner and employee were sent to local hospitals according to Captain Kyle Ohashi, Kent Fire Department Public Information Officer.

 

Ohashi said the fire was contained by cooling the propane tank enough to shut off the open vent and the fire was contained to the van. There were no explosions and the next engine put the remaining flames out within ten minutes.

 

Larry Courier, an onlooker caught in the resulting traffic (exits to 272nd were blocked and the the 265th was backed up), stopped by the scene to help and noticed the Alaskan license plate. It jumped out to him because his trucking business sends him abroad in Alaska and Canada.

 

“Anything they need. I just wanted to be friendly." Courier said,

 

"When your s**t's on fire it's not a good thing."