The original 911 call came into the Fire Alarm Center at 12:31 a.m. reporting a possible transformer fire at 3rd Avenue NW and NW 36th Street. The first arriving engine company spoke to Seattle Police Officers. Officers interviewed a witness who saw a man climb the tower and fall, causing a large spark from the power line.

The 200-foot-tall tower carried 120,000 volt power lines at the top. Also 26,000 volt power lines ran 50 feet off the ground which prevent the firefighters from raising their aerial ladders.

Seattle City Light determined that if an individual made it onto the tower, he could have accidentally caused electrical current to travel into the metal structure. For the safety of the firefighters, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office sent their helicopter to survey the platform. The bird’s eye view for the chopper revealed a unresponsive body on the platform and two objects which turned out to be a baseball cap and a cell phone.

Under the direction of Seattle City Light, utility employees and four Tech Rescue Firefighters climbed the tower and recovered the body from the platform. Around 7 a.m., the body was lowered by stokes basket to the ground below.

The King County Medical Examiner took possession of the body. Examiners will determine the cause of death, and the identity of the male.

The Seattle Police Department is investigating how and why the man climbed the tower.

The first 911 call came in at 7:15p.m. The caller reported hearing a loud sound and seeing light gray smoke coming from the basement of a home located in the 13000 block of 7th Avenue NW. The first arriving engine company found smoke in the basement of the 1-story home. The lone occupant safely evacuated the house before firefighters arrived.

It took crews about 15 minutes to completely extinguish the flames.

There were no reported injuries.

The damage estimate is $50,000 to the structure and $20,000 to the contents.

April 8-Seattle Fire Investigators determined an early morning fire at a Ballard multiplex residential building was an accidental fire caused by unattended candles.

At 4:38 a.m. the Fire Alarm Center received multiple 911 calls of flames shooting from the apartment building located in the 2300 block of NW 62nd Street. Engine Company 18 arrived to find flames pouring out of the front door and window of the single story building and exposing to nearby units.
All ten units of the complex were evacuated. Firefighters were able to contain the flames to just one unit and prevented them from spreading to adjacent units. It took firefighters nearly a half hour to completely extinguish the flames.

The lone occupant of the unit that was on fire evacuated with her dog before firefighters arrived. The female patient in her 50’s was treated and transported to Harborview Medical Center by Medics for second degree burns to her head. The dog was uninjured and is being taken care of by a neighbor.

The damage estimate is $150,000 to the structure, $50,000 to the contents and $10,000 of exposure damage to a neighboring unit and the resident’s minivan.

All the residents except for the fire unit were allowed to reoccupy their units.

Each year candle misuse causes thousands of residential fires in the U.S. and results in hundreds of millions of dollars in property loss.

The Seattle Fire Department Public Education Unit has these safety tips for handling of candles:

• Extinguish all candles when leaving a room or before going to sleep.

• Always use a candleholder specifically designed for candle use. The holder should be heat resistant, sturdy and large enough to contain any drips or melted wax.

• Place lighted candles where they won’t be knocked over by children, pets or anyone else.

• Keep burning candles away from items that can catch on fire such as furniture, drapes, bedding, carpets, books, paper, etc.

For more candle safety tips – visit: http://www.seattle.gov/fire/pubEd/brochures/candles.pdf

On Monday night the two-alarm fire significantly damaged three multiplexes in the 700 block of Warren Avenue North. Around 8:15 p.m. dispatchers at the Fire Alarm Center received multiple 911 calls reporting flames coming from a detached garage of a home with a basement. The first arriving engine company found flames shooting 40 feet into the air. The flames from the garage exposed to the house and also extended to neighboring homes on the North and South.

Officers called for a 2-11 which brought in additional resources to battle the three homes on fire. It took 90 minutes for the 78 fire personnel to completely knock down all three fires.

All of the residents safely evacuated from the two multiplexes to the North. No one was home at the residential structure to the South. The Red Cross was called to assist 10 displaced residents and one displaced resident’s dog.

Medics evaluated one resident who twisted his ankle while evacuating from the fire. Also medics examined another man, who was down the street at a tavern when the fire broke out. He suffered a minor injury to his hand while trying to fight the fire.

No firefighters were injured during the fire.

The case has been turned over to the Seattle Police Department’s Arson Bomb Squad to investigate.

Beginning at 11:30 a.m., a funeral procession begins at the Harvey Funeral Home located at 509 North 36th Street in Fremont. Engine 24 and the Seattle Police Department will escort the casket from the funeral home to Fire Station 2 located at 2320 4th Avenue. Along the procession route several Fire Engine Companies and Ladder Companies will be stationed with their emergency lights activated and the firefighters standing at attention.

Intersections where Firefighters will be staging along the procession route:

1. Fremont Avenue North and Fremont Place
2. Westbound Nickerson Street and 13th Avenue West
3. Southbound 15th Avenue West and West Galer Street
4. Southbound Elliott West and West Mercer Place
5. Fire Station 2 2340 4th Avenue.

At Noon, Engine 24, Engine 2, Battalion Chief SUV and the funeral hearse will depart Station 2 in route to the funeral. The firefighters will travel South on 4th Avenue and turn right and head West on Bell Street. Next the procession will make a left and travel South on 2nd Avenue to the Christ Our Hope Catholic Church located at 1902 2nd Avenue.

At the corner of 2nd and Virginia, Ladder Company 4 and Ladder Company 10 will cross their aerial ladders and hang a large American flag in honor of Firefighter Hernandez.

At 1 p.m. the funeral service for Firefighter Hernandez will take place at Christ Our Hope Catholic Church. The service is expected to last about 90 minutes. The family of Firefighter Hernandez has asked that the funeral remain a private ceremony for family and friends.

At 1:46 p.m., Firefighter/Dispatchers at the Fire Alarm Center received multiple calls of a fire at an abandoned building located in the 3600 block of Woodland Park Avenue North. Engine Company 9 arrived to find flames shooting from a side window of the one story home. Crews had to use bolt cutters to cut through the lock on a chain link fence and had to make forcibly entry into the dead-locked home. Inside they found fire in three rooms of the abandoned house. The flames also reached into a 4 foot tall void space between the ceiling and the roof of the structure.

It took about 20 minutes to completely knock down the flames.

No one was injured in the fire.

Photo Courtesy FIre Buff John Odegard

At 6:50 p.m. dispatchers began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting a fire on a roof of a four-story apartment complex located at 7100 block of Greenwood Avenue North. Phinney Ridge Engine Company 21 arrived 3 minutes later to find about three feet of flames coming from the Northwest section of the roof. Firefighters ran a hose line up to the roof and quickly doused a five foot by five foot section of the roof.

The occupant of the apartment located below the roof fire was evacuated. Red Cross provided temporary housing for the renter and his cat.

Within an hour, the rest of the residents of the 21 unit building were allowed to reoccupy their units.

As a precaution, firefighters remained overnight outside the complex to make sure the roof fire did not reignite.

The damage estimate is $20,000.

At one minute past noon multiple 911 calls to dispatchers at the Fire Alarm Center reported smoke and flames coming from a bathroom of a church located in the 1400 block of NW 73rd Street. The church evacuated an estimated 140 people out of the sanctuary during a worship service.

Prior to firefighters arriving at the scene, the fire was extinguished by church patrons using dry-chemical extinguishers. The fire damage was limited to the first floor women’s restroom. Smoke from the fire did drift through the sanctuary.

The damage estimate is $25,000.

There were no injuries.

At 11:33 a.m., the Fire Alarm Center received a 911 call from a concerned dog owner after his pet crawled 30 feet inside a drainage pipe located in the 12800 block of Corliss Avenue North. The four firefighters on Engine Company 24 arrived and worked with the dog owner to try and coax the Bassett Hound out of the culvert.

Next, firefighters dug through several feet of soil and made a hole in the middle of the pipe in order to lift the dog out of her predicament. Seattle Public Utilities crews responded and used a camera mounted on a remote vehicle to coax the dog toward the hole in the pipe.

After spending more than 90 minutes stuck, firefighters were able to pull “Nina” from the hole they made and reunite the happy dog with her owner.

At 9:23 p.m., dispatchers received a 911 call reporting dark smoke coming from the roof of a home located in the 8800 block of 9th Avenue NW.

Engine Company 35 arrived to find smoke coming from the roof and attic of the one-story home. Firefighters searched the home but did not find anyone inside. After an aggressive attack, firefighters extinguished the flames in 14 minutes.

The fire investigator determined a chimney fire extended to the roof of the home. The damage estimate is $5,000.