Residents of Sumner, Bonney Lake try to protect property, themselves from fire

A brush fire that erupted between Sumner and Bonney Lake shut down a portion of state Route 410 on Tuesday and led to home evacuations.

Christian Deoliveira, his fiancé, Nicole, and 5-year-old son, Brodey, were evacuated from their home on Myers Road in Bonney Lake early this morning.

“I woke up at about 3 a.m. to a neighbor knocking on the door, saying the whole hillside’s on fire,” Deoliveira said.

About 6 a.m., they were told by authorities to pack up and leave, he said. He was also told the fire started after a telephone pole fell and blew a transformer.

“I’m used to fires going camping over at Eastern Washington ... but this, over here on this side, is all new,” he said.

Deoliveira tried to go by his home later in the morning but was stopped by police, who told him the road was blocked off but that he could be escorted back if he needed something important.

Deoliveira said he wasn’t told when he might be able to return and that he’s staying with brother in Bonney Lake for now.

Other nearby residents who haven’t been evacuated said they’re prepared to do so, just in case.

Terry Baker and Robert Budinich have lived in a 55 and older retirement neighborhood near the blaze for about seven years. Early this morning, after a power outage, Baker said he woke up to heavy traffic outside his home due to a closed-off road nearby.

“All the cars were coming into my little cul-de-sac here to turn around. It was like a freeway,” he said.

Baker said Bonney Lake Police Department came by to tell them they would be notified if they had to evacuate.

“My wife and I got a few valuable things together and ready to put in the car if we had to leave, but so far, so good,” he said.

Nearby businesses, including WinCo in Sumner, were evacuated Tuesday morning. Other people came out early to take precautions to protect their properties.

Whitney Bort woke up about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and decided she better check on her business, Salon Six Four, on 64th Street in Sumner.

“I was trying to get down 410, and it was completely shut down, so then of course you start to panic,” she said.

Bort used a hose to soak the building for about two hours and called her husband to come help.

“My husband and I renovated this house for about a year and a half, and it’s definitely our baby,” she said.

Erin Ziegelbauer and Trudy Bleiler own of 1st Premiere Insurance Services next door and also out watered down their building and put a sprinkler on the roof.

Because of the power outage, Bleiler said, she didn’t know what was going on at first. Her husband, who was at work, called her to tell her about the fire.

“I called Erin right away, threw some clothes on and ran down here to do what we could do,” she said.

Blieiler said they removed irreplaceable items and files from their business.

“We started loading up cars as fast as we could,” she said.

For many, the blaze is too close to home.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Bort said.

This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 1:09 PM.