A piece of lint that caught fire while roofers were doing hot-mop work on the roof of the American Behavioral Health Systems (ABHS) facility in Chehalis ultimately caused between $5,000 and $6,000 to the building Monday morning, according to fire personnel.
The Chehalis Fire Department responded to reports of a fire in the 500 block of Southeast Washington Avenue just after 9:35 a.m. on Aug. 30. According to witnesses and ABHS staff, roofers were hot-mopping the roof — a process where melted asphalt is spread on a flat-top roof — when they accidentally ignited a piece of lint, which went down a dryer vent and started the fire.
The fire occurred right over the building’s laundry facility. The building’s sprinkler extinguished the fire before it could spread, said Chehalis Fire Chief Tom Hendershot.
ABHS staff had most of the fire on the roof extinguished with hand-held fire extinguishers before fire crews arrived.
Crews cleared the scene just before noon.
