Seattle – At 9:09 a.m., Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Alarm Center received 911 calls reporting a fire in a six-story commercial building in the 700 block of Pike St. The fire was reported in the kitchen of a restaurant. The building houses the restaurant and several additional businesses. Crews arrived and determined the fire spread from the kitchen into the ventilation system of the structure. The incident was upgraded to a 2-alarm fire.
Smoke spread into the ventilation system and throughout the building. Crews quickly got water on the fire and began to search the building. Once the fire was under control, firefighters began overhaul.
Firefighters used several methods to remove smoke from the building, including the building’s ventilation system and Seattle Fire Department’s Mobile Ventilation Unit. The Mobile Ventilation Unit (MVU1), staffed by crews from Fire Station 25, allows for positive pressure ventilation that clears smoke from large structures.
No injuries were reported.
In total, eleven engines, six ladder trucks, and additional command and support units responded, totaling to over 100 firefighters.
Update April 21: Fire investigators ruled the cause of the fire as accidental, starting in the fryer of the commercial kitchen.