The year 2020 will go down as one filled with many trials and tribulations. While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect nearly everyone, forest fires hitting close to home in Thurston County added to the losses many of us have already endured this year.
Most of the summer’s horrific fires ravaged California and Oregon, but Washington was not spared the devastation. On Tuesday, September 8, a freak brush fire broke out over the Mima Mound Area of Littlerock. While luckily only two structures were lost in the blaze, one of those was home to couple, Cindy and Robert, who had painstakingly envisioned, crafted, and worked to nearly pay off their house over the last four decades. Thankfully, the couple were at work when the fire happened, but heartbreakingly, their beloved dog, Sissy was trapped inside. Justin Bourdon, distiller at Sandstone Distillery was at work when his wife, Carissa, gave him the news that her coworker, Cindy had lost everything in the fire.