2 Large Fires Keep Seattle Firefighters Busy

2 Large Fires Keep Seattle Firefighters Busy

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Story Published: Jul 25, 2004 at 7:27 AM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:32 AM PDT

By Mary Nam

SEATTLE - Seattle firefighters were quite busy early Sunday morning battling two large blazes.

The largest was around 3:45 a.m. when a fire broke out at an apartment building under construction in Wallingford.

Neighbors, just woken out of bed, helplessly watched in their pajamas as firefighters rushed to the scene.

Neighbor Dave Kitchell says, "The building is as tall as the other buildings and flames were shooting up 20-30 feet taller than that."

The flames tore the first building apart, then spread to at least three surrounding buildings.

Crews from Seattle and Bellevue were called out to get the fire under control and prevent it from spreading any further.

"For a while the embers from that fire were starting spot fires," said Assistant Chief Bill Hepburn with the Seattle Fire Department.

By daylight the damage was clear: there is nothing but charred plywood left where new homes were supposed to go up.

Fire officials estimate the apartment on the north side is a complete loss. The Red Cross is helping nine people who were evacuated. One person was taken to Harborview Medical Center with minor injuries.

Sandra Olson, who lives right across the street, hosed down her yard to prevent flying embers from catching on her trees. By then, the intense heat had already melted her garbage container on the sidewalk as well as the siding on her neighbor's house. Families say it's hard to believe so much damage was done in just a matter of minutes.

While it's too early to determine a cause, fire officials say there's a good possibility that the fire was accidental.

Even so, arson investigators remained on scene sifting through the rubble looking for evidence to make sure the fire wasn't intentionally set.

Brush Fire Near Golden Gardens

About 90 minutes earlier, crews had to battle a large brush fire in Ballard that burned about 100 yards of shrubs near Golden Gardens Park.

The very steep hill made it difficult for firefighters to reach the flames, so crews used ladder trucks to douse flames from the hilltop.

"We were fortunate of the time of day it was, no wind and high humidity at night...we got lucky there," Hepburn said.

No one was hurt, and there's no word on a cause yet.

Firefighters say the damage was limited to the hill between the Burlington Northern railroad tracks and 34th Avenue Northwest.

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