Our great historic icon of Thurston County, Up in Smoke?

The Olympian
JEREMY PAWLOSKI; Staff writer | • Published May 27, 2010

TUMWATER - An intentionally set fire at the historic riverfront brewhouse built by the Olympia Brewing Co. in 1906 sent a huge plume of dark smoke into the sky, attracting attention from onlookers and local fire departments Thursday.

About 5:30 p.m., Tumwater police had a “person of interest” in custody, but he had not been arrested, Tumwater Police Detective Charles Liska said. He added that witnesses had reported seeing a person leave the area where the fire had started – a smaller black building outside the brewery complex.
Later, Liska said the person in custody had issues with the state Department of Corrections, but there was no evidence he had anything to do with the fire.

“As of right now, we don’t have anybody in custody related to the fire, and it remains under investigation,” Liska said about 7 p.m. “We’re doing an arson investigation.”
The fire was small, confined to a warehouse building separate from the tall brick structures of the brewhouse, Tumwater Assistant Fire Chief Jim McGarva said.

“There was a lot of smoke generated, and it had to do with the (fact that the) underside of the roof was lined with some tar material,” he said outside the fire Thursday afternoon.
Someone used wood pallets and old paperwork and marketing materials that had been left at the old brewery to start the fire, McGarva said. The fire was started by a human; whether it was arson will be up to police and prosecutors to decide, he added.

“Maybe his intent was to keep warm; I don’t know,” McGarva said.

The fire caused about $20,000 in damage, he said. The old brewhouse, once owned by Leopold Schmidt, has historical significance in Tumwater, McGarva said.

“A lot of the architecture in Tumwater is patterned after this building,” he said.