SEATTLE – After a busy morning with a 2-alarm fire in south Seattle and building fire in Capitol Hill, Seattle firefighters responded to a third major fire in West Seattle just after 6:30 p.m. on April 3. Calls came into the Fire Alarm Center reporting flames and black smoke showing from the roof of a six-story mid-rise apartment building at the 3200 block of SW Avalon Way. When the battalion chief arrived on scene, she upgraded the response to a 2-alarm, to bring in additional resources from other areas in the City.
Engine 32 arrived first on scene and put a strategy in place to get water on the rooftop decking that was burning. The building’s rooftop standpipe connection was found to be inoperable, so crews instead utilized the standpipe connection on floor 6. A ladder truck also extended it’s aerial ladder to the roof, and a handline was brought up through the building and connected to the aerial. By quickly applying water on the fire, firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the floors below and contain it to the rooftop. The fire was extinguished within approximately 45 minutes.
Residents inside of the structure were instructed to shelter in place, as there was no fire found on the floors below. However, ten units on the sixth floor sustained water damage, and were unable to be reoccupied. Firefighters utilized tools and equipment carried on apparatus to help remove as much of the water as possible. The American Red Cross was contacted for residents who did not have another place to stay and luckily, there were no reported injuries.
April 4 UPDATE: Fire investigators have ruled the cause of the fire “undetermined” due to multiple possible ignition sources. Total estimated loss is $500,000 from fire damage to the roof and heavy water damage on roof and top floor.