— from Jim Ghiglione, Lopez Fire Chief —
At 8:53 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23, Lopez Island Fire & EMS personnel were toned out to a structure fire at 1934 Mud Bay Road. The first arriving officer reported a fully involved structure, spreading to two other structures. The report also stated that all the occupants had safely evacuated the structure.
The building and contents were totally destroyed in the fire. The building destroyed was a mixed use occupancy consisting of a single family residence, work shop, storage and business office. Two other storage buildings were also suffered damage from the radiated heat of the fire.
The property owners are Nick and Sarah Jones, and the business is Jones Family Farms.
The fire was investigated by the San Juan County Fire Marshal and is considered accidental. The heat of ignition of the fire at this time is listed as unknown, the area of ignition is suspected to be in the non-residential area of the building.
There is a fund set up at Islanders Bank for those interested in assisting the family in recovering from the loss. Checks should be made out to Nick & Sarah Jones or to Jones Family Farms and sent to your local Branch.
Madie Murray, Director of Orcas Island School Farm to Cafeteria program, reported to Orcas Issues that “along with Coffelt Farm, Jones Family Farm has been helping supply our school cafeteria with organic meats for about 2 years now.”
