Nothing could have survived the devastating flames that broke out in three historic buildings on Oakville’s main street just after 10 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
And nothing did.
The town’s former hardware store, former liquor store and a home were all reduced to rubble.
“The loss of these buildings is just very sad,” Ryan Stubbins of Rochester told KIRO 7 on Wednesday. “I’m kind of at a loss for words right now to describe how I feel inside, just loss and devastation.”
No one was inside the buildings on East Pine Street when the fire started, so no one was hurt.
The two businesses were no longer open and had fallen into disrepair, according to long-time residents Rudy Hillstrom and Kathy Turner.
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Investigators with Grays Harbor County Fire District One are looking into the possibility that fireworks might have sparked the flames.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was fireworks-related, the way they were going at it last night around here,” Hillstrom said.
Fireworks are illegal in the town of Oakville but are sold on nearby tribal land.
While investigators try to pinpoint the official cause in the still-smoldering wreckage, Turner said she mourns the loss of her entire hometown.
Not just the three historic buildings that burned.
"I think businesses have been pretty much wiped out by the activities at the casino,” Turner told KIRO 7. “No one can make a go of it. This is the story of small towns.”
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Cox Media Group
