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Video: Body found at house fire at Delridge/Barton; cooking blamed for fire

June 2, 2014 2:02 pm
|      21 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

(UPDATED MONDAY NIGHT with fire cause)

(Photo courtesy Jonathan French)
2:02 PM: Firefighters are on the scene of a house-fire call in the 9200 block of Delridge Way SW (map). More to come.

2:07 PM: SFD has reported that heavy smoke is coming out of the house, and also that everyone has gotten out OK. Our crew will be there shortly.

(This photo & those below are by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
2:12 PM: SFD says the fire is “knocked down”; we’ve just arrived in the area and can still see smoke. Avoid Delridge in this area – police have the street blocked at Barton.

2:25 PM: Photos added.

Yes, this is why there’s a TV helicopter over South Delridge/Westwood (directly over us at the moment). A dog was rescued and we’re told it will be OK.

2:39 PM: There are now conflicting reports about whether everyone did indeed get out OK. SFD’s public-information officer is en route and we expect an update shortly.

Police also have arrived to investigate – not just to direct traffic.

2:55 PM: It’s just been confirmed that one of the residents of the home, so far described only as male, has been found dead inside the back bedroom. Authorities had originally reported everyone was out safely but that obviously turned out to be wrong. And while they rescued two dogs and a puppy, four other puppies did not survive.

3:54 PM: Added the briefing video, above – that’s SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore, explaining that police involvement at this point is routine for any fire involving a death. No information yet on the person’s identity or cause of death, nor the fire’s cause – we will add new information here whenever it becomes available.

4:49 PM: SFD has tweeted photos of the rescued dogs/puppy:

9:42 PM: Seattle Fire investigators say it started with a cooking fire:

11:20 PM: No word yet on the victim’s identity – that will come from the Medical Examiner’s Office, no sooner than tomorrow afternoon. But SFD has one more tweet about the rescued dogs:

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21 Replies to "Video: Body found at house fire at Delridge/Barton; cooking blamed for fire"

  • Jennifer Asmundson June 2, 2014 (2:07 pm)

    Wow, must be some fire! I live on 17th & SW Barton and there have been non-stop sirens for 5 minutes at least!

  • miws June 2, 2014 (2:29 pm)

    (Presumably TV News) Chopper overhead now.

    .

    Mike

    • WSB June 2, 2014 (2:31 pm)

      Yes, I’ve added that mention. It’s almost directly over where I’m writing from while Patrick is at the fire scene about half a block away.

  • Ryan June 2, 2014 (2:33 pm)

    I was down the block and got there around 2:10. around 2:20 they were doing medical examination on a black/white pit bull who seemed to be fine after given oxygen and monitored. Police have re-routed traffic on Delridge and news helicopters are still overhead.

  • miws June 2, 2014 (2:35 pm)

    Heh, yeah, I saw your mention just after my comment posted.

    .

    Mike

  • miws June 2, 2014 (2:59 pm)

    How sad on the loss.

    .

    Condolences to the person’s loved ones….

    .

    Mike

  • H June 2, 2014 (3:06 pm)

    My prayers going out to the family.

  • Marianne June 2, 2014 (7:59 pm)

    I will try to be positive and hope that all of the dogs are rescues/fosters.

  • HelperMonkey June 3, 2014 (8:24 am)

    It would be nice if there were offers to help the victims, rather than vilifying their choice of dog breed. How about it folks? Is there something set up so we can help both the human and doggies displaced by this fire?

  • nativegurl June 3, 2014 (10:46 am)

    Why is it that it is the breed that keeps multiplying…do not see puppies of any other breed…its that vilifying?

  • HelperMonkey June 3, 2014 (10:56 am)

    you know what make me sick? EVERY other time there is a fire posted on this blog everyone is immediately falling all over themselves with offers to help the victims. Not this time though…because of pitbulls? Nice community. Not going to get into a pissing match with you over pitbulls because clearly your mind is made up. Someone died in this fire, and people and animals are displaced. I hope we can as a community offer help to them the same as you would someone living in a nicer neighborhood with a dog breed you approve of.

  • AJP June 3, 2014 (2:40 pm)

    Who are the people who are holding the dogs in the picture? Residents/owners? Or good samaritans?

    • WSB June 3, 2014 (2:57 pm)

      AJP, they were tweeted by SFD and the captions are ALL the information I have. (Side note – we tried to photograph one of the dogs hours BEFORE SFD tweeted these photos, and someone who was with the dog asked us not to, so we had only included information about the dogs, not photos, until these were sent out to the world by SFD.) Also to those who have asked if anyone needs help – I don’t know. Breaking-news scenes can be chaotic and this one certainly was, in a multitude of ways. Since the cause of the fire was announced by late night, the main piece of followup info we are watching for now is the victim’s identity and the confirmation of their cause of death – TR

  • TKB June 3, 2014 (2:54 pm)

    I agree with HelperMonkey as to how we can help. Hopefully something will be posted soon.

  • ca June 4, 2014 (7:54 am)

    i am really confused on this fire, doesnt it seem suspicious at all? I read somewhere the owner was down the road and said no one was in the house? but yet someone died and in back room and kitchen is place of fire…did that person have a medical emergency prior?…was he injured? and yes for the people juding due to a breed (which clearly your uneducated about) is a very unkind thing to do. Someone died and that is someone’s loved one and pets. No on deserved to die no matter who they were or the breed of someones dog. I hope it is just me and fire seems “off” and i will be watching on how to help the families and dogs.

    • WSB June 4, 2014 (12:18 pm)

      The fire has been ruled accidental. SFD explained (see our video) why it at first was thought everyone got out OK and then they discovered, no, that wasn’t the case. Meantime, I am watching for the Medical Examiner to announce the victim’s ID/cause of death – they haven’t yet; they have a media announcement once a day but didn’t announce anything for Tuesday (and Monday was too soon), maybe today.

  • Friend June 6, 2014 (12:08 pm)

    Here’s the link for donations.. http://www.gofundme.com/9tiuv0

    • WSB June 6, 2014 (12:18 pm)

      THANK YOU – had not heard directly from anyone and absent any names (the Medical Examiner hasn’t even released the name of the person who lost their life), there was no place to start. We’ll get a separate story up about this. – Tracy

  • Christina June 6, 2014 (2:47 pm)

    I know the family personally and they are good people who just had a horrible traumatic experience.

    The mommy and daddy dog were rescues and the puppies were less than 6 weeks old. Santana, the male dad had to be taken to emergency vet for smoke inhalation and the mom and pup were also dehydrated and overheated so we got them pumped with fluids and just pray that Santana gets better. He is scared to sleep, scared to be away from his dad, and keeps choking and coughing up crud even days after the fire. It’s heartbreaking.

    Stefan is a long time Seattle community member and musician. He’s been Seattle almost his whole life and has helped so many people (including my own family when we were in desperate need) and has a great warm heart. We are trying to help as much as possible.

    Here’s a link to his fundraiser and we are trying to set up a benefit show at a local White Center/West Seattle venue soon too.

    http://www.gofundme.com/9tiuv0

    Think of the stress of losing a good friend/roommate, their home, their dogs lost their new family too… I can’t imagine how torn up I’d be if I lost my home and friends in such a horrid accident.

  • Lil purple car June 16, 2014 (4:32 pm)

    Stefan, You are a good friend to me for so many years, and you have the biggiest heart when it comes to helping others. I hope when people out there hear of your heartbreaking lost, they will come help you in your time of need. My prayers and support are with you and Lester’s family and your little puppies. See you soon Stefan!

  • puppy June 16, 2014 (5:00 pm)

    so very sad to those who lost their family and friends

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