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.

SEATTLE – Just after 3 a.m. on April 3, the Fire Alarm Center received a 9-1-1 call reporting smoke and flames visible from a mid-rise new construction building at the 2300 block of S. Plum St. Engine 30 from the Mt. Baker neighborhood arrived first on scene and established command, and called for a defensive fire attack. Deputy 1 arrived on scene shortly after, and upgraded the response to a 2-alarm, bringing in additional firefighting resources from the City.

Crews utilized hand lines and ladder pipes to apply water on the fire from various directions, and eventually moved to a transitional fire attack and then to the interior. Two 5-6 story buildings were connected together through a U-shape design, and the fire had spread throughout the building on the lower floors. Firefighters were able to stop the fire from engulfing the two structures, and continued to apply water for over two hours, putting out hot spots.

While crews were working towards extinguishment of the 2-alarm fire, the bell hit again, this time for a fire in the Capitol Hill neighborhood at the 300 block of Bellevue Ave. E. Firefighters arrived on scene at 4:30 a.m. and reported smoke and flames from the top story and roof of the unoccupied structure. They conducted a primary search and did not find anyone inside, and had the fire extinguished within 32 minutes.

The cause of both fires is still under investigation, and will be updated here once available. There are no reported injuries.

UPDATE for 2-alarm fire at 2300 block of S. Plum St: fire investigators have ruled this fire as “incendiary” (intentionally set). Total estimated loss is 3 million. Information has been referred to the Seattle Police Department’s Arson and Bomb Squad for a follow-up investigation.

UPDATE for structure fire at 300 block of Bellevue Ave. E.: fire investigators have rule this fire as “undetermined”. The building was scheduled for demolition, so the estimated dollar loss is zero. Per policy for undetermined fires, information on this incident has also been referred to the Seattle Police Department.

The Seattle Fire Department is actively looking for single-family dwellings scheduled for demolition to help secure live-fire training for our newest Seattle firefighters on May 3-6, 2021. We are also open to discussing the use of duplex and apartment buildings on a case-by-case basis. The project must have a demolition permit in hand, and the owner would need to allow access to the structure a week ahead of the training for set-up.

If interested, please fill out our intake form online and email it to SFD_inservicetraining@seattle.gov. Questions can also be directed to this email address.

INTAKE FORM: http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Fire/About/Acquired%20Structure%20Training/AST%207%20-%20Intake%20Form%20Live.pdf

Live-fire training is an opportunity for our new fire recruits to work with our company officers and face real fire scenarios in a controlled setting. This experience is vital to the development of new recruits as these fires act as a final evaluation of what they have learned over the past 12 weeks of training. The training focuses on fire attack, teamwork and communication.

SEATTLE – Fire Chief Harold D. Scoggins visited the Rainier Beach Community Hub this afternoon to receive his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. He joined over 150 eligible community members at the site today also receiving their vaccination, whom were registered by First African American Methodist Episcopal Church (First AME) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

“My goal of getting vaccinated is to hopefully help encourage others to do the same and ease the fears around the vaccination. If my vaccination at today’s event helps just one more person gain courage to get vaccinated, then I consider it a success,” said Fire Chief Scoggins. “I know that through each vaccination we administer, we are one step closer to improving the health of those around us and eventually reopening. And as a member of the community who lives and works in Seattle, I am certainly looking forward to getting through this pandemic.”

In June, Chief Scoggins was one of the first people to receive a nasopharyngeal swab COVID-19 test at the City’s community testing sites. Acting Captain Brian Wallace conducted that test, and today, he was able to come full circle and administer the Chief his first vaccine dose. When asked how it felt to vaccinate his own leader, Acting Captain Wallace said, “I’ve worked more closely with the Chief this year on COVID-related tasks than I could have ever imagined, and have seen him work tirelessly day in and day out to keep everyone else safe … it feels good to be bringing him some of that same comfort. I feel honored that I was able to vaccinate him today.”

Earlier this year, Chief Scoggins was named the Chief of the Year by the King County Fire Chiefs Association, and Acting Captain Brian Wallace received a Special Recognition for COVID-19 community testing development. Both have been integral in the City’s response to the pandemic, and have helped to lead the way on the vaccination front.

With the start of daylight saving time this weekend (2 a.m. Sunday, March 14), make sure you replace smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarm batteries and test the alarms. The Seattle Fire Department recommends replacing batteries yearly or as needed.

Changing smoke and CO alarm batteries at least once a year is an effective way to reduce home fire deaths and CO poisoning. Working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by nearly one-half  by providing an early warning and critical extra seconds to escape. Consider installing a long-life battery powered smoke/CO alarm to avoid yearly battery replacements.

Every home in Seattle should have the protection of smoke/CO alarms. Due to Covid-19, our free smoke/CO alarm program is on hold. But if you would like to see if you qualify and get on a wait list, fill out an online form. The Seattle Fire Department can install 10 year long-life combination smoke/CO alarms free of charge in Seattle homes where the homeowner is either an older adult, living on a low income, or has a disability.

Learn more about smoke/CO alarms.

(SEATTLE) – One year ago this week, Public Health-Seattle & King County identified the first known cases and death of COVID-19 in King County. Shortly after, cases began to surge across the region and state, and a regional effort to flatten the curve was implemented. As we enter year two of the pandemic, we want to look back on the critical efforts the Seattle Fire Department has been involved with to help battle COVID-19 in our City.

First responder testing site
Early in the beginning of the pandemic, King County EMS and Seattle Fire sought state Dept. of Health approval to allow paramedics and EMTs to conduct nasal swab testing. This approval to conduct nasopharyngeal tests allowed Seattle to become the first in the nation to implement a testing site for first responders, conducted by first responders in March of 2020 (first responders now get tested at the community testing sites). This was replicated by many other fire agencies nationwide.

Mobile Assessment Teams
Shortly after, in April of 2020, the City (in partnership with Public Health) took the step of testing our population who was seeing outbreaks and suffering the worst consequences from COVID-19: those living in or working at long-term care facilities and adult homes. The fire department created Mobile Assessment Teams to allow EMTs to go into these facilities to test patients and staff to help identify COVID-19 clusters and stop outbreaks. During initial visits to these long-term care and congregate living facilities across the city, SFD trained their qualified staff to manage and maintain their own testing. The Mobile Assessment Teams have received national recognition as an innovative model for addressing the emerging pandemic.

Community testing sites
Once more test kits became available and with Public Health guidance, the City transitioned to opening community testing sites to conduct tests on the public through a partnership with the UW lab. To date, we have conducted more than 650,000 COVID-19 tests at the City’s four community test sites, which are in SODO, North Seattle, West Seattle and Rainier Beach.

Mobile Vaccination Teams
As the year came to a close, we saw was hope on the horizon, as the federal government made plans to release the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to state Department of Health agencies. On January 9, 2021, the state Department of Health approved the Seattle Fire Department to serve as a vaccine distributer, meaning we were eligible to begin administering vaccine to Seattle residents and workers. Following this approval, we quickly launched our Mobile Vaccination Team program, which has administered more than 8,000 vaccines to eligible Seattleites.

This past year has shown us how resilient we are as a department and community, and that together, we can get through anything. Through widespread vaccinations, we can end this … and we can save lives.