January 23—A Seattle Fire Investigator estimates a West Seattle garage fire caused $180,000 in damage.
A neighbor called 911 at 4:47 a.m. to report smoke in the area of the 9400 block of 45th Avenue SW. When the first engine arrived, firefighters were directed to a back alley where they discovered a well-involved fire in a one-story two-car garage. The homeowner informed fire crews no one was inside the garage.
The flames were exposing to houses on the North, South and West of the garage. Fire crews were able to protect the other homes and contain the flames to the garage. Due to the buckling of the fire damaged ceiling joists, firefighters retreated from the structure and fought the fire in a defensive position, from the outside of the garage. It took 25 minutes to knock down the fire and nearly an hour to completely extinguish the flames.
Due to the extensive fire damage and instability of the garage, the fire investigator was not able to go inside and fully investigate the cause. The fire is being classified as undetermined.
Included in the $180,000 fire loss estimate is $80,000 in damage to the structure and $100,000 in damage to the contents. The damage includes two smoke and fire damaged SUV’s that were inside the garage.
No one was injured.
