SEATTLE — At 10:19 a.m., firefighters responded to a working fire in a vacant building at the 5200 block of University Way NE. When crews arrived on scene, they confirmed that an adult male and adult female were able to safely evacuate the building. Our crews were able to get water on the fire and begin a primary search within four minutes of arriving on scene. However, the primary search was aborted when the roof began to collapse.
The incident was upgraded to a 2-alarm as flames and heavy smoke billowed out from the collapsed roof. 93 fire personnel were dispatched to the scene consisting of eleven fire engines, five ladder trucks and additional support units. Firefighters remained in a defensive strategy where they poured water onto the fire from a safe distance. They had the fire under control by 11:02 a.m. and continued to extinguish hot spots into the early afternoon.
The incident is currently under investigation and no injuries were reported.