Hagen’s of Blaine fire impacts office, smoke in warehouse

Firefighters responded to an office fire at a downtown Blaine parcel store on the night of March 10. North Whatcom Fire and Rescue (NWFR) and Lynden Fire Department units were called to the Hagen’s of Blaine, at 253 Martin Street, on March 10, fire chief Jason Van der Veen said. 

NWFR was dispatched at 11:13 p.m. and the first engine arrived on scene at 11:21 p.m. Van der Veen said electrical wiring in the office seems to have started the fire. The fire was contained to the office but smoke damaged the warehouse. 

A store owner arrived at Hagen’s to check on a burglar alarm and found smoke coming from the building. Van der Veen said it’s not uncommon for an older alarm system to have all of its alarms go off at the same time.

Some of the store’s doors were barricaded because of previous criminal activity, which made it difficult for the firefighters to quickly gain access to the building, Van der Veen said.

There were no injuries.