April 8-Seattle Fire Investigators determined an early morning fire at a Ballard multiplex residential building was an accidental fire caused by unattended candles.

At 4:38 a.m. the Fire Alarm Center received multiple 911 calls of flames shooting from the apartment building located in the 2300 block of NW 62nd Street. Engine Company 18 arrived to find flames pouring out of the front door and window of the single story building and exposing to nearby units.
All ten units of the complex were evacuated. Firefighters were able to contain the flames to just one unit and prevented them from spreading to adjacent units. It took firefighters nearly a half hour to completely extinguish the flames.

The lone occupant of the unit that was on fire evacuated with her dog before firefighters arrived. The female patient in her 50’s was treated and transported to Harborview Medical Center by Medics for second degree burns to her head. The dog was uninjured and is being taken care of by a neighbor.

The damage estimate is $150,000 to the structure, $50,000 to the contents and $10,000 of exposure damage to a neighboring unit and the resident’s minivan.

All the residents except for the fire unit were allowed to reoccupy their units.

Each year candle misuse causes thousands of residential fires in the U.S. and results in hundreds of millions of dollars in property loss.

The Seattle Fire Department Public Education Unit has these safety tips for handling of candles:

• Extinguish all candles when leaving a room or before going to sleep.

• Always use a candleholder specifically designed for candle use. The holder should be heat resistant, sturdy and large enough to contain any drips or melted wax.

• Place lighted candles where they won’t be knocked over by children, pets or anyone else.

• Keep burning candles away from items that can catch on fire such as furniture, drapes, bedding, carpets, books, paper, etc.

For more candle safety tips – visit: http://www.seattle.gov/fire/pubEd/brochures/candles.pdf