Pioneer Medical Center evacuated for small fire

Center reopened 35 minutes after 911 call

MOSES LAKE — A discarded cigarette in a planter started a small fire, causing the evacuation of the Pioneer Medical Center in Moses Lake Tuesday.

The Moses Lake Fire Department and Grant County Fire District No. 5 responded to the fire and evacuated people from the building before searching for the fire, said Moses Lake Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Brett Bastian.

There were no injuries, according to Moses Lake Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Corbin Moberg.

Once the building was cleared firefighters were led by an administrator to the east stairwell, where smoke was accumulating, Bastian said.

"A small fire spread into the wall space of the building and burned some plastic material," he said. "The building construction really helped us avoid a problem, being built out of non-combustible materials. It is primarily steel and concrete which helped us from having a bigger fire."

The cause was located immediately by the fire department.

"We found a discarded cigarette on the Pioneer Way side of the building … it was right up against the building and sat and smoldered in some bark and vegetation," said Bastian. "It burned some plastic inside the wall and that was where we were getting the smoke inside the building."

The damage was described as fairly minor and suspected of being less than $5,000, according to Bastian. Despite being a small fire, it produced a lot of smoke.

"We were receiving complaints of smoke in the building for a couple of hours afterward," Bastian said. "It took a while to get the air movement through there to clear it out."

Pioneer Medical Center Clinic Coordinator Melodie Rodeback said most of the offices in the center reopened for business by 2 p.m.

"A few offices chose to close for the rest of the day," she added.

All of the offices in the Pioneer Medical Center returned for business Wednesday.

The center reopened roughly 35 minutes after the fire department was called.