May 12—Seattle Fire Investigators have determined a Friday night fire at a West Seattle auto body shop was an electrical fire. According to investigators, a short in a 220 volt socket ignited the auto body shop causing $20,000 damage to the structure and $10,000 damage to the contents.
At 8:11 p.m., the Fire Alarm Center received several 911 calls reporting heavy black smoke coming from a one –story auto body shop located in the 9200 block of 16th Avenue SW. Engine 11 arrived to find smoke coming from the building which was attached to a paint shop and part of an auto dealership.
When firefighters arrived, the business was locked and no employees were inside. Firefighters made forcible entry and found flames coming from one column and extending to the ceiling. The flames were threatening to ignite the next door paint shop.
Due to the firefighters aggressive actions, they were able to contain the flames to a 10-foot portion of the ceiling and save the paint shop. It took only 6 minutes for firefighters to completely extinguish the flames after first getting water on the fire.
No one was injured.