UPDATE: Man hospitalized after fire on 44th SW in The Junction; investigators blame ‘dried Christmas tree’

(UPDATED 10:15 AM with SFD announcement of fire’s cause)

(Added: Photo texted by Amanda L.)
3:14 AM: Seattle Fire is sending a “full response” to what’s described as a house near 44th/Genesee (map) on the north end of The Junction, and first units on site are reporting flames. There’s also word someone is hurt. More to come.

(This photo and next by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
3:32 AM: We’re at the scene. The fire is under control, according to an update monitored via scanner. Very smoky here, and 44th SW is full of emergency vehicles starting immediately north of SW Oregon. Commenters who live nearby are saying they heard an explosion type of sound right before the fire. More firefighters are continuing to arrive, some pulling up just south of Oregon.

3:44 AM: For those asking, we’ve confirmed it’s the address on the SFD log, 4411 44th SW. It’s a multi-family, two-story building (update: property records describe it as a 4-plex).

3:50 AM: No word yet on the condition of the person who was being checked out, nor on the cause. But Lt. Sue Stangl is here as public-information officer and so we’ll be able to get a briefing before too long.

(On-scene command center; photo by Diakonda Gurning)
The fire marshal (investigator) is en route.

4:00 AM: Lt. Stangl tells us smoke/fire was visible from three of the four sides of the building when firefighters first arrived. The man who was hurt has been taken to Harborview Medical Center, with burns and smoke inhalation; he told SFD he was the only person inside when the fire started. We’ll add video of her briefing when we’re back at HQ shortly (update: it’s below):

She says firefighters have no information yet on what might have caused the reported “boom.”

4:25 AM: Some of the responding units are being dismissed as the operation winds down. People evacuated from a building immediately behind this one will be allowed back in. We’ve added a photo atop the story, texted by Amanda L. (thank you!), showing the flames.

4:55 AM: Still investigating, per the photo tweet below from SFD:

10:15 AM: Via Twitter, an update from SFD: “Early morning WS house fire determined accidental. $150K loss to structure, $10K loss to contents. Dried Xmas tree too close to fireplace.” We just went by for a daylight look:

33 Replies to "UPDATE: Man hospitalized after fire on 44th SW in The Junction; investigators blame 'dried Christmas tree'"

  • Ttt February 28, 2015 (3:20 am)

    Thanks for quick report wsb. It woke me up– was definitely an explosion sound at 3am. Loud enough to wake me up 4 blocks away…

  • Steph February 28, 2015 (3:20 am)

    I was just woke up by one siren and thought no big deal, but now I can hear sirens coming from all directions. I love about 1/4 mile from there. I hope the report is wrong about someone being hurt. My prayers are with them.

  • Bessy February 28, 2015 (3:22 am)

    I’m stuck at work, but thats right by where I live. Can we get an address when you arrive?
    I forgot the rules about this….

  • Todd February 28, 2015 (3:25 am)

    I live at 44th and Genesee. A loud explosion shook our home just before the smell of smoke.

  • Jill February 28, 2015 (3:26 am)

    There was a huge pop that sounded like a big gun shot and fire team was there a few minutes later. The flames were huge and seem to have engulfed the entire house. We saw someone taken in a stretcher.

  • Kathy February 28, 2015 (3:27 am)

    Heard a loud bang just before hearing sirens, from just south of Junction.

    • WSB February 28, 2015 (3:32 am)

      Regarding the address, the log lists it as 4411 44th SW. However, as we always caution, that’s not NECESSARILY the fire address – it sometimes turns out to be the address from which the fire is reported, and it’s not corrected for a long time if ever. If we can see a number for sure, we’ll get one. Just arrived and co-publisher Patrick has walked out to the fire scene (44th is full of emergency vehicles starting immediately north of Oregon) while I update from nearby – TR

  • Denise February 28, 2015 (3:32 am)

    Was wondering what all the sirens and sounds were from… Thank you for being the ONLY place to real-time news!

  • Jill February 28, 2015 (3:34 am)

    The house is on the west side of 44th on the odd number side of the street. North of some tan townhomes.

  • Gabrielle February 28, 2015 (3:36 am)

    We can hear all the sirens all the way from Seaview. Hope everyone is okay!

  • Emily February 28, 2015 (3:37 am)

    I live right before the bridge entrance at the Trader Joe’s. Two ambulances just left for downtown…guessing the reports of someone injured might have some truth behind it

    • WSB February 28, 2015 (3:43 am)

      Re: the address, the front of the building “is completely charred,” Patrick tells me, so verifying might be difficult. It’s a 2-story multi-family residence, according to a description I’m hearing via the scanner. Hoping to get a better photo – it’s cameraphone photos only while we’re on location and better images whenever we head back to HQ – TR

  • Wendy B February 28, 2015 (3:42 am)

    Saw one person brought out on a stretcher. They were sitting upright. Not sure if anyone else home. Heard the loudest “bang” I’ve heard & in the time it took to leap out of bed and look out the window, the front of a neighbor’s home was completely engulfed in flames, front lawn too. Fire appears to be under control at this point.

  • Max February 28, 2015 (3:47 am)

    Called into 911 just before the fire squad arrived. It looks like it was 4411 44th SW as reported earlier. The house was completely engulfed in flames. It was quickl contained by the fire team and it appears that it didn’t spread to any of the neighboring houses. Someone was carried off on a stretcher, but they appeared to be sitting up and alert.

    • WSB February 28, 2015 (3:48 am)

      I’ve just added to the story, SFD has confirmed 4411, thanks.

  • Erithan February 28, 2015 (3:57 am)

    Heard two loud bangs around 3am, heard the response with more and more vehicles coming. Started to smell smoke (like burning wood) really strongly, looked out and realized there was smoke all over the area right where the crosswalk light is about in the junction. I’m on 42nd ave, facing the parking lot by the QFC, hope if anyone was hurt they’ll be alright.

    • WSB February 28, 2015 (4:01 am)

      Just added to the story, the man who was hurt has been taken to Harborview. We’ll add video of Lt. Stangl’s briefing to the story when we’re back at HQ. – TR

  • Emily February 28, 2015 (4:47 am)

    At 3am this morning I woke up to one small boom and I thought something just fell in my house two mins later a bigger boom goes off first time I thought it was a gun shoot so I woke up and me and my kid went outside cause she also heard it to as we walk outside we Tay in our yard cause the ambulance and firetrucks as they stop going by we go over to the side of the huge brown and white apartment complex across from the junction church as we see max (owner of house) getting his hands all bandaged up cause he was burnt tring to get out of the house he was working on his furnace and lit a fire in the fireplace something fell and caught on fire he tried to put it ou but got bigger so he ran out side and fell and got burnt I live right across the street from the scene

  • Ray West February 28, 2015 (5:29 am)

    Thanks so much for the fast reporting. I was awake and heard all the sirens and wondered what was going on. Judging by all the earlier comments, it’s obvious many people are awake at that hour and grateful for knowing what is going on. WSB, you are the best!

  • np February 28, 2015 (5:52 am)

    interesting coincidence of dates. off of Zillow for this address:

    FEB 27 2015 Foreclosure auction $880,000 unpaid balance
    The owner of this property has been served a Notice of Trustee Sale.

    This property was scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction on 02/27/15 at 10 a.m. at 500 4TH AVE, SEATTLE. Because auction dates often change or are postponed, it is unknown at this time if this auction was held. Please confirm with a foreclosure specialist.

  • Lesley February 28, 2015 (6:54 am)

    The boom woke me up by camp long! Followed by sirens, at first I thought it was another left turn accident on 35th.

  • Smitty February 28, 2015 (7:10 am)

    Man, that public relations woman needs a raise.

    How can you be that well spoken (and look that good!) at four in the morning?

    T&Ps to those injured.

  • G February 28, 2015 (8:21 am)

    Down here in Studio City, CA having coffee this morning and my heart skipped a beat as I pulled up the news on WSB. I have a house on 44th in that area. Hope the occupants will be ok.

  • e February 28, 2015 (8:33 am)

    There were TWO loud explosions as Erithan wrote. The first was much louder than the second and the second was just a minute or so after the first one.

  • BG February 28, 2015 (9:51 am)

    I live on the same block and side of the street as this house. Huge boom. Whole neighborhood still smells like smoke.

    • WSB February 28, 2015 (10:14 am)

      Adding this to the story, but SFD has announced via Twitter: “Early morning WS house fire determined accidental. $150K loss to structure, $10K loss to contents. Dried Xmas tree too close to fireplace.”

  • AE February 28, 2015 (10:21 am)

    I doubt they answered this, but were the booms just the windows going, or the water heater or gas line or something?
    Just curious.
    Hoping the guy has stabilized. :(

    • WSB February 28, 2015 (10:42 am)

      No additional information. They’d told us last night that there were no further “booms” after arrival so they couldn’t tell firsthand. No info about the victim, either, can’t check with the hospital without a name, though sometimes the Monday-Friday media relations folks can help, so I will ask them then.

  • Cmoney February 28, 2015 (1:16 pm)

    Hoping and praying that M is doing ok. So sad to see a friend lose is home and all his belongings. So glad his son wasn’t home too.

  • yikes! February 28, 2015 (6:07 pm)

    One of those booms was probably the Christmas Tree igniting, and creating a flash fire. Seriously those things go up in a millisecond.

  • Chris March 1, 2015 (12:00 am)

    All these comments and not one mention of why a x-mas tree was still up and drying out? So preventable.

  • A March 1, 2015 (8:50 pm)

    Why in the world did someone still have a Christmas tree in February???!!!!

  • Paul Funyon March 2, 2015 (12:08 am)

    These things happen so quickly.
    We frequently have beach fires, with big scraggly firewood, but whenever someone throws a Christmas tree on there- KaBOOM!! You can hear it for miles around..

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