Let’s remember the fire at the Tyee Motor Inn, in Tumwater, which happened on this day in 1970 (January 27)
The Tyee Motor Inn, in Tumwater, has quite a history, as it was known as the spot where a lot of work from the legislature actually got done.
An article in the Olympia News Tribune from 1999 says:
“Anyone who experienced Tumwater’s Tyee Motor Inn during its glory days uses the same description: It’s where the real business of the Legislature was done.”
“Committees may have have met in the capital office buildings. Representatives and senators performed official duties in the domed Legislative Building. But the deals were cut in the dining room, around the pool, in the bar — and sometimes in the bedrooms of the Tyee.”
The famous motel suffered a massive fire, though, in 1970, per the always-important HistoryLink:
On January 27, 1970, an accidental fire severely damages Tumwater’s Tyee Motor Inn. The fire starts in or near an overhead broiler in the motel’s kitchen. The luxury hotel is a popular spot for conventions and banquets and is also a favorite of legislators from Olympia. The 209-unit motel, valued at at least $3.4 million, sustains major damage, with only 39 units and 11 cabanas left standing after the fire. No deaths or serious injuries are reported, but it is only thanks to the heroics of several individuals that there are no serious casualties. The motel subsequently will rebuild.
…
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 1970, a fire started either in or near a kitchen “salamander” (overhead broiler). Several night-cleanup employees broke out hand-held fire extinguishers to fight the blaze, but it quickly spread to the kitchen’s roof and then began to rapidly spread through the west wing of the motel. Although contemporary accounts did not pinpoint the cause of the fire, they confirmed that it was accidental.
Shirley McQueen was a night bartender in the motel’s Tom Too Cocktail Lounge. She had just closed the lounge and was in the main office counting receipts when she saw flames erupt from the kitchen and dining room. She and Linda Gilbert, a visitor at the motel, began telephoning the motel’s guest rooms to alert the sleeping guests of the fire. Soon fire and smoke forced the two women from their posts. McQueen then raced down the corridors pounding on doors and awakening guests. “I thought someone had had too much to drink,” commented state representative Bill Chatalas. “[But then] I smelled smoke and got out of there.”
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