Other buildings spared in Eagles fire

DAYTON – Multiple agencies responded to a structure fire in downtown Dayton Tuesday afternoon, preventing more serious damage from the fire that broke out in the Eagles building Tuesday.

At approximately 3 p.m., Columbia County Fire District No. 3 was dispatched to the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie on the 200 block of East Main Street.  Upon arrival, crews discovered fire on the second floor and roof.

Due to the number of buildings in the area and the size of the fire, additional resources were called in from Walla Walla and Columbia counties, as well as the College Place and Walla Walla fire departments. The fire was contained within a couple of hours.

The Eagles building sustained heavy fire damage to the second floor with smoke and water damage throughout the building. Crews were able to keep the fire from spreading to any other buildings, but the buildings on each side of the Eagles building sustained minor smoke and water damage.

US-12 at milepost 367 in Dayton has been closed due to the fire. An estimated time to open the roadway is unknown.  According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, an assessment of the damaged building needs to be completed before U-S 12 can be safely reopened to traffic.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation. At the time the fire started, members were inside working on repairing the roof that had been damaged in a wind storm. No one was injured.

Photo by Gina Wilson

---

Elkhorn Media Group

---

---