Flames race through Queen Anne apartment building
SEATTLE - Residents of a four-story Queen Anne apartment building were evacuated early Friday as flames tore through one of the units there and damaged five others, fire officials said.
Multiple fire crews responded to the scene, at Sixth Avenue and West Olympic Place, at about 5:30 a.m. after receiving 911 calls about heavy smoke in the structure.
As they arrived, firefighters saw flames pouring from the front and sides of a second-floor unit in the building, said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore.
He said the occupant of the burning unit couldn't extinguish the fire, so he ran around to all the other units in the building, pounding on doors and waking up residents to tell them to get out.
Firefighters made sure everyone was evacuated and were able to extinguish the blaze in about 20 minutes.
"It appears everybody is out of the building and safe," Moore said.
One firefighters sustained a minor knee injury while tearing out walls to get access to burning embers, but he is expected to be OK, Moore said. No one else was injured.
Investigators later determined the fire was accidental - caused by clothing too close to a baseboard heater in the living room of the second-floor unit.
The fire caused an estimated $300,00 in damage to the structure and $100,000 in damage to the contents, fire officials said.
Multiple fire crews responded to the scene, at Sixth Avenue and West Olympic Place, at about 5:30 a.m. after receiving 911 calls about heavy smoke in the structure.
As they arrived, firefighters saw flames pouring from the front and sides of a second-floor unit in the building, said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore.
He said the occupant of the burning unit couldn't extinguish the fire, so he ran around to all the other units in the building, pounding on doors and waking up residents to tell them to get out.
Firefighters made sure everyone was evacuated and were able to extinguish the blaze in about 20 minutes.
"It appears everybody is out of the building and safe," Moore said.
One firefighters sustained a minor knee injury while tearing out walls to get access to burning embers, but he is expected to be OK, Moore said. No one else was injured.
Investigators later determined the fire was accidental - caused by clothing too close to a baseboard heater in the living room of the second-floor unit.
The fire caused an estimated $300,00 in damage to the structure and $100,000 in damage to the contents, fire officials said.
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