November 5—A Seattle Fire Investigator determined a fire at a home in the 11700 block of 22nd Avenue NE was an accidental fire caused by improperly discarded smoking materials.

At 12:07 p.m. a neighbor called 911 reporting a flames coming from a neighbor’s house. Engine Company 39 could see a dark column of smoke coming from the home as they responded to the scene. When firefighters arrived, they found flames on the front porch and fire shooting from the front window of the one-story home with basement.

The 88-year-old owner of the home met firefighters on the front lawn and reported his 83-year-old wife was still inside the burning home. Firefighters immediately initiated a search and rescue operation. The crews quickly found the female patient in the bathtub on the first-floor bathroom. She was unconscious, unresponsive and was not breathing. Firefighters rescued her from the burning home and initiated CPR.

Paramedics along with Firefighters continued CPR as they transported the female patient to Harborview Medical Center. Due to the resuscitation efforts of the firefighters and paramedics, the female regained her pulse and blood pressure. At time of arrival, the female was in critical condition with life threatening injuries including second degree burns to her face and legs.

While the search and rescue and firefighting operation were underway, the male occupant returned to the burning home and had to be rescued from the basement by firefighters. Medics transported the 88-year-old male patient to Harborview in stable condition. He was suffering mild smoke inhalation and singing to his hair.

Firefighters were able to knock down the flames within 5 minutes of arriving on scene. Their quick actions contained the flames to the front room of the house. The fire did cause extensive smoke damage to the structure.

The damage estimate is $150,000 with $100,000 damage to the building and $50,000 to the contents.