PHOTOS: Smoke poured through a hole in the roof of a rustic building in Everett’s Port Gardner neighborhood. As firefighters worked in the midday sun, 79-year-old John Estie stood by with other onlookers.
Taking in the scene Tuesday, Estie said, “104 years up in smoke.”
It was no emergency but rather live-fire training near the intersection of Nassau and 34th streets. Yet for Everett’s Boy Scout Troop 1, the smoke was visible evidence of the end of an era. Chartered in 1914 by Everett Elks Lodge No. 479, Troop 1 is no more.
Benjamin Hayes, Troop 1’s most recent scoutmaster, said membership had slipped to three by the end of November 2018. The troop was part of Boys Scouts of America’s Mount Baker Council. To qualify as a troop, at least five members are needed, said Chris Wojahn, chairman of the council’s Salish Sea District.