SEATTLE — At 6:38 a.m., the Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Alarm Center received 911 calls reporting a car colliding into a commercial building on the 700 block of S. Michigan St. Callers also informed dispatchers that the collision caused the vehicle’s engine bay to catch fire, then quickly extended into the building.
When firefighters arrived on scene, they reported flames coming from the vehicle as well as the impacted area of the building. They searched the vehicle to find no one inside, then quickly poured water on the fire to knock it down. Seattle Police officers notified our incoming units that they apprehended the driver who reportedly fled the scene while attempting to harm himself. While firefighters focused on extinguishing the fire and searching the building, paramedics treated the driver/patient—an approx. 35-year-old male who is in stable condition. Paramedics then transported him to Harborview Medical Center for further evaluation.
By 7:11 a.m., crews were able to extinguish the fire and complete a primary search of the building to confirm no one was inside. Seattle Fire Department’s investigators attribute the cause of the fire to a person in crisis. Estimated loss is $185,000. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections was requested to do an evaluation of the building to determine whether the building was safe to reoccupy.