January 2—Seattle Firefighters battled access issues when fighting a fire inside Beacon Hill home. Around 12:30 p.m., a neighbor called 911 to report a fire inside the home at 5500 block of 21st Avenue South. Engine Company 28 arrived to find light smoke and visible flames coming from the one story home.

The homeowner, a woman in her 50’s, was outside the house and said she suffered singeing to her hair while escaping the fire. Medics transported her to Swedish Medical Center’s First Hill E.R. with minor injuries. The woman says she was inside her living room reading when the flames started and she escaped out the front door.

Arriving firefighters were not able to open the front door or back door to the house due to a large amount of debris piled up inside. The access issues delayed firefighters getting water on the fire. Using chainsaws, firefighters cut a hole in a back window to gain access into the burning home and to spray water on the flames. One firefighter crawled through the smoke filled home to open the front door. Once inside, firefighters knocked the flames down within 7 minutes.

A Seattle Fire Investigator determined the cause to be accidental, combustible materials piled too close to an electric baseboard heater inside the living room. The damage estimate is 40 thousand dollars to the structure and five thousand dollars to the contents.

No firefighters were injured while fighting the fire.