(Photos courtesy Mark Ahlness – more on the AH Elementary Facebook page)
February is a most literary month at many West Seattle schools, with writing/reading events dotting many a calendar. Tonight, for the second consecutive night, we bring you a story about an author visiting a local school – this time, Northwest author Paul Owen Lewis at Arbor Heights Elementary. It’s the third time he’s visited AH, according to longtime teacher Mark Ahlness, who says Lewis’s first visit was in 1998 – that would have been before EVERY student currently enrolled at AH was born! He spoke to assemblies as well as to classes:

Mark says, “As always, he was dynamic, entertaining, and inspirational. A great day that the kids will remember!”

The city’s work to replace undersized water mains in Arbor Heights – a problem spotlighted by water-supply trouble during a house fire last August – is expected to start this month.

That’s part of what Seattle Public Utilities told more than 60 residents who gathered for a community briefing/Q-A session last week at Arbor Heights Community Church, barely a block from the home that burned August 27th.

The first work will be on a relatively small stretch along Roxbury:

But the rest of it – see the full map here – won’t happen until this fall. Why the gap? That’s part of what was explained.

The meeting was far more cordial than contentious, and even ended with applause. On hand for presentations and questions were about half a dozen reps from SPU – which is accountable for the water system, including fire hydrants – and the Seattle Fire Department, which is accountable for testing each of the city’s 18,000 hydrants annually, though their testing only goes far enough to make sure they can be turned on.

The underlying – literally – problem for Arbor Heights is an underlying one: The size of the water mains.

Parts of Arbor Heights have 2- and 4-inch-wide water mains dating back to the ’30s; the area was not annexed to the city till the early ’50s. Senior civil engineer John Ford from SPU presented some of the “how did things get to be this way?” history for starters. The area was part of King County Water District #3 and “had different standards,” he explained; most of the north/south mains are 4-inch-wide cast iron, while most of the east/west mains are 2-inch galvanized steel, and the bulk of the system was built in 1939, aside from additions by developers. The exceptions are 8-inch cast-iron mains along 39th and 100th. (At California/100th, for example, there’s a fire flow of more than the 1,000 gallons-per-minute standard.)

The water-main situation was no secret when Seattle annexed the area more than half a century ago, but improvements were usually made through residents approving a Local Improvement District to tax themselves to raise the money. Twice it went to voters, twice it was turned down. (“So we just kind of got forgotten about” after that? asked one woman, who identified herself as the wife of “the one with the garden hose there fighting the (August) fire … I don’t want to see my husband fighting a fire with a garden hose again.”)

These improvements are NOT through any kind of district – they’re being paid for by the city, it was reiterated when anther attendee asked how much extra they would be paying, and was reassured that SPU has “found” the funding without an assessment, as they did for the first round of improvements they decided to make after the August fire-flow shortfall – 12 new fire hydrants, all but one of them replacing smaller “village fire hydrants.” A picture comparing old (below left) and new was displayed at the meeting:

The older, smaller hydrants were all on bigger water mains anyway, so this just improved access to what existed before. The 12th hydrant is a brand-new one added to a 12-inch main at 35th and 107th, Ford said.

As SPU had explained to the Seattle City Council in a December briefing on the August fire aftermath – WSB coverage here – the goal for the project is to make sure that no property in Arbor Heights is more than 1,000 feet away from a hydrant with a “fire flow” of at least a thousand gallons per minute. That’s the standard for single-family-home neighborhoods, according to SPU, and Arbor Heights is 97 percent single-family zoning.

Some were concerned about water pressure for homes, not just “fire flow.” Ford explained that pressure isn’t really the issue here – Arbor Heights is doing OK on that front already, and the smaller mains are actually “a constriction.” After the work is done, he said, “you might even find higher pressure upstream because there’s less restriction downstream.” (Already, attendees were told, the available fire flow in the area in general is up 25 percent, just with the hydrant changes.)

Even if old mains are big enough, it was asked, what’s the time frame for replacing them? Ford revealed that it depends on how corrosive the soil is in a given area, and in Arbor Heights, the answer is “not very” – in Seward Park, for example, some “thick-walled cast-iron mains installed in 1890″ may have another century of usability left.

The presentation moved on to more specifics. Project manager Joe Herold explained that most work would be on the north or east side of a street, with a 2-foot-wide trench, about 3-feet deep, and an 8-inch main would be installed.

If you’re in an area that will be affected, you’ll get a notice of when your water will be shut down for the work to happen. The first place, Herold said, would be a 75-foot stretch along Roxbury near Fauntleroy Park, perhaps as soon as two weeks away. That area also will see a “village hydrant” replaced with a new standard one. Then the rest of the new mains will be installed in November and December. Why not till then? “A lot more design work is involved,” Herold said, saying the design is at the “30 percent” level now, and they still need permits as well as going out to bid.

Once they get to that part of the project, he said, SW 102nd will also get six new hydrants on the north side of the street as well as “retirement of the existing village hydrants on side streets” to the north. (The end result is laid out on this map.)

39th SW will get one new hydrant and will see the “village hydrant” at 39th/99th retired; the new one will move “around the corner” to be on the new main on 39th.

California SW will get a new water main from 98th to 100th, an 8-inch main mostly on the east side of the street.

SW 105th next to Arbor Heights Elementary School will get one new hydrant and a replacement for an existing two-inch line. However, the school itself is “fed off 104th,” SPU reps said, and is NOT expected to lose water at any point during the construction process.

As for everyone else – if you are “along or adjacent to” the streets affected, you “will experience up to 3 water-main shutdowns,” since it’s a three-step process (though the shorter segment on Roxbury may be more like one or two). Many concerns were voiced about some homes not getting advance warning during the shutdowns related to the recent hydrant replacements, and SPU promised to do a better job, saying the shutdowns generally would be during “business hours,” and would last no longer than “several hours.” Unlike the hydrant-work timeframe, they said, there’s more time before this work to test “shutdown blocks” so they know more precisely who will be affected by which shutdown. (One woman with a home business said this still sounds like a potential hardship for her, so SPU invited her to talk with them about how best to coordinate a plan.) In addition to general advance alerts, individual residences are supposed to get door hangers with 72-hour notice of a shutdown.

Other ways the work will affect the neighborhood: Some temporary no-parking signs, traffic re-routing, and “slightly larger hole(s)” in intersections where “legs” of the water system would have to be connected. What if you have trees hanging over a potential work zone? one attendee asked. Answer: If the tree branches are at least 14 feet over the street, a backhoe can get under them. (“They’re not,” said the man.) Other complications can ensue, but the job pace will usually be about 100 feet a day. Herold said “one short segment (would be) open at a time for a few hours,” then they’ll backfill as they go along – if something will need to be dealt with twice, it may have a metal plate over it until it’s ready to be backfilled. Final “road restoration” work will be weather-dependent.

Then there was the big question someone finally dared to ask.

“What happens if God forbid we have another fire?”

SFD assistant chief Michael Walsh: “We’ll adjust, and we’ll move on to the nearest hydrant [with appropriate fire flow] … we’re working very closely with the Water Department on the redesign, and will take it into account in our tactical decisions.”

P.S. Trivia point – someone wondered if water-main breaks were a factor in this at all, and was told, no, no breaks lately, and systemwide, the entire city sees 141 a year.

P.P.S. Anyone in Arbor Heights with questions was invited to contact Joe Herold, project manager, directly – joseph.herold@seattle.gov or 206-386-9857. SPU says it’s not planning any other public meetings before or during the project, “unless there’s a need.”

(Photo added 12:42 am, sent by neighbor ‘Bunnyfer’)
11:54 PM: Fire reported on 35th SW near Roxbury. More to come.

(Photo by Tony Bradley)
12:10 AM: The fire is reported to be under control.

12:36 AM: Christopher Boffoli‘s on the scene for WSB. (His photos are above and below this paragraph.) He says the house is single-family but is believed to be vacant (as mentioned in comments, below). Note that 35th is closed at Roxbury, if you have to drive at this hour. No word of any injuries.

12:41 AM: Christopher has spoken with Seattle Fire spokesperson Kyle Moore. He reports that Moore confirms the house was vacant, and Christopher adds this from Kyle’s briefing: “No occupants. No firefighter injuries. Engine 37 arrived to a fully involved fire in the basement area. Ladder 11 followed and ran water from an 8 inch main on 35th. They have the fire pretty much tapped now. But because the fire burned out and weakened the floor, it is too dangerous for them to go inside at this point. Kyle says they’ll probably sit on it all night just to be sure.”

1:41 AM: Added video from Christopher. Your editor here just went over to check the scene – 35th closed on the south side of Roxbury but you can turn onto Roxbury, either way. We’re adding more photos, too. The main that Kyle mentioned to Christopher – important note because of the water challenges brought to light by the August 27th fire a mile or so south – is about a block from the house that burned.

(Photo by Tony Bradley)
Here’s where the line ran from:

(Photo by Torin Record-Sand)
(The maps shown when the City Council was briefed on the August fire last month show this area is not slated for water-main upgrades since it’s close enough to one with sufficient “fire flow.” When we checked back, firefighters were still up on the roof with chainsaws, ventilating the house, and it’s still smoldering. No word on the cause, but that usually takes some hours to determine.

2:49 AM: Commenters had pointed out early on that the home was for sale. Most recently, one noted that a sale was listed as “pending.” We looked up the current ownership; the house is federally owned, following foreclosure. Meantime, we uploaded a short clip received from Benjamin, in the early moments of the fire:

ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT: Investigators still haven’t figured out how the fire started, according to this update on the SFD website.

(Taken at 17th/Cambridge. We have blurred the face of one person who did not appear to be SPD.)
Two cases tonight: We don’t have official details on the one that’s still happening, but in South Delridge, police are out right now dealing with a report that was described on the scanner as an armed robbery, apparently at a business, possibly on 17th SW. We checked out the scene and saw what appeared to be a search, but it wasn’t clear exactly where the investigation was centered, so we’ll be checking back with SPD later.

There also was some scanner traffic about a strong-arm street robbery earlier – and we have received a note from the victim, a longtime WSB’er who says she was held up at knifepoint in Arbor Heights around 5:30 pm by someone who stole her iPhone 4S. She says police made an arrest but did not find the phone, so she is asking people in the area to be on the lookout for it. (We have a followup question out to ask where in AH this happened.) She says the data on it “has been wiped,” but she has its serial number from its original packaging.

ADDED 12:14 AM: The victim says it happened near 35th/106th, and that the suspect was found around the 9700-9900 block of 35th. The missing phone is a black iPhone 4S, 32GB, “in a black Marware flip case at the time.”

Two reader reports to share tonight – first, a stolen car resembling the one in the photo sent by Rob, who hopes his car will be found:

Stolen from my driveway near 37th and Alaska on Tuesday (12/27/2011) between 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM.

The car is a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT Sedan (not the ubiquitous wagon). It is a lovely dark-green color with some minor dents in the right-rear corner. It has Washington truck plates (so the license# begins with an “A” and ends with an “F”). It has a distinctive hood vent and a tasteful rear spoiler, as you can almost see in (the) photo. I have filed a report with the police.

Second, A shares the story of a car whose driver was taking an odd path early today:

Approximately 0530 Wednesday morning, my partner noticed a white Nissan with license plate number 200-Z(xx) pulling in and out of driveways along 35th avenue SW before the turn onto Marine View Drive SW. After being noticed, the car then drove back up 35th to 106th and made a right heading towards White Center. Police were notified, please be on the lookout and report further suspicious behavior.

(August 27 photo by Tony Bradley)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

New water mains, yes. Added sidewalks, no.

That’s one of the points we got clarified, following up on Wednesday morning’s Arbor Heights fire briefing before the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee.

You can watch the entire briefing in our Wednesday-morning story; we summarized the briefing documents’ key points in this story from the night before.

But we had a few followup questions, so, adding the answers to the additional information that emerged at the briefing – primarily regarding the plan to upgrade water mains in the area where they were too small to provide adequate “fire flow”:

(August 27 photo by Tracy Record)
The August 27th fire destroyed a home near 41st/102nd. The column of smoke could be seen for many miles; we were at the fire scene long before the flames were extinguished, writing and reporting from the alley behind it, where dozens of neighbors also stood gaping at the scene, particularly the spectre of firefighters who could not do their jobs without adequate water supply. Since fast, powerful response is par for the course, one WSB’er put it in an exchange with us, that it was “shocking” to see a home, “in the city,” burn virtually to the ground.

(August 27 photo by Tony Bradley)
“In the city,” actually, hints at a large part of the problem. The hydrant and water-main shortcomings — costing the firefighters precious time as they search for an adequate water supply — trace back to before Arbor Heights was annexed into the city more than half a century ago. Firefighters ultimately had to go almost half a mile to get an adequate supply; the documents for Wednesday’s briefing say the supply problem wasn’t fully fixed till more than half an hour after firefighters first arrived.

(August 27 photo by Tracy Record)
As for why the “village”-size mains hadn’t been upgraded sooner – the committee was told that the “Local Improvement District” process, in which area voters would be asked to pay for the upgrades, was how these things usually happened, but that LIDs had been proposed and defeated twice in that time. (This was noted in WSB comments during an earlier followup.)

Firefighters ultimately had to roll out almost half a mile of hose to get to a hydrant that could provide 1,000 gallons a minute. That is the current “residential standard,” according to briefers, and they said it takes an 8-inch water main to provide that. Some of the lines in Arbor Heights area are only 2- or 4-inch, and those are the ones that will be replaced. Throughout the city, there are 950 hydrants that don’t and can’t meet fire-flow standards, the committee was told, but the largest concentration was in Arbor Heights. (SPU says a plan is in development to address the other areas.)

When the water-main upgrades planned for Arbor Heights – at a cost of $2.2 million – are complete in a year or so, everyone in AH (1,700 “properties”) will be within 1,000 feet of that kind of hydrant, and 87 percent will be within 500 feet of a hydrant with that capability, the councilmembers were told. SPU says the lengths of water-main to be replaced – or, in the case of a 50-foot “gap” at 42nd/Roxbury, added – total 3,600 feet, which is roughly two-thirds of a mile.

(November 2011 photo by Kevin McClintic)
As we reported earlier this fall, hydrant work already has been done, completed in mid-November, with one hydrant added – SPU says the hydrant work cost $140,000. (More details in this WSB report from November.) Upgrading hydrants that were “village hydrants” – without the type of hose ports needed to take advantage of full water flow – could only be done where an 8-inch water main lay below; it wouldn’t have helped in the areas with the smaller water mains. For those that could be upgraded, the committee was told that improved potential firefighting water flow by about 25 percent.

Separate from that issue, Councilmember Bruce Harrell asked, whose responsibility is it to make sure they are working? Fire Chief Gregory Dean said the 18,000 hydrants around the city are tested by fire crews annually – and that records showed the ones near the Arbor Heights fire scene had been tested in 2010 and 2011 – but they just test to make sure there’s water, not volume and flow. Harrell wondered if the problem brought to light by the Arbor Heights house fire was something on the magnitude for what City Light had to do last year after “stray voltage” by a street light killed an animal, touching off citywide inspections and replacements; SFD and SPU said, basically, “no,” and that they were addressing “fire flow” issues anyway – this just sped it up for Arbor Heights.

Chief Dean also mentioned the technology upgrade so that fire crews will have access to maps of mains and hydrants. He elaborated on what it finally took for them to get the information that day – a Lake City crew monitoring the radio traffic looked it up!

Next step: SPU says a community meeting about the water-main work will be scheduled in January (no date yet). The torn-up roads will be repaved in January 2013. But there is no SDOT component to the project right now for adding sidewalks while the road work is under way, according to Ingrid Goodwin of SPU, though that is something that residents have been requesting for a long time – an AH resident who spoke to the council committee at the start of Wednesday’s meeting mentioned them too.

And another question that had emerged in our followups: Whether SFD considered seeking “mutual aid” from North Highline, whose fire station in White Center isn’t far from Arbor Heights. Councilmember Tim Burgess, who chairs the committee, asked about that. Chief Dean didn’t definitively answer “No” but did say that (a) it’s up to dispatchers to determine – “we tend to ask for resources as we exhaust (our) resources” – and (b) NH uses “paid and volunteer firefighters” so “there’s a level of training difference.”

10:20 AM: Click “play” to get the live feed from City Hall, as the City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee is briefed on the August 27th Arbor Heights house fire near 41st/102nd, and what’s been done, and what is still to come, to fix the water-supply problems it exposed –

We have been following this story since the fire itself, including these stories:
*August 27: The fire (accidental; gutted a house and injured a firefighter)
*August 28: Fire’s cause
*August 29: ‘After-action review’ promised
*Sept. 9: Three followups
*Sept. 15: Hydrant upgrades promised
*November 4th: Hydrant upgrades almost complete
*December 5th: City Council committee briefing planned

Last night, we reviewed the documents available online for this briefing, including something new and major: A plan to upgrade water mains. Here’s our story; we will write a new one with added information after today’s briefing, and we will also make a note here when the briefing is over.

11:02 AM: It’s over. Nothing major beyond what we summarized from last night, though some additional summarizing did emerge – when the water-main upgrades are over in a year-plus, all of Arbor Heights will be within 1000 feet of an 8-inch water main, which is the minimum standard these days, and 87 percent will be within 500 feet. The review of the August fire showed that 2,000 feet of hose had to be rolled out to get to an 8-inch water main supply. More to come!

12:12 PM: The archived video is already available – so we have substituted it above. Followup story still in the works.

(WSB video from 8/27/2011)
House fires don’t usually lead to council briefings, but in this case, multiple fire hydrants near the home were unable to adequately supply firefighters, who as a result could not get a handle on it quickly. Three documents are linked from the City Council agenda tonight, looking ahead to the briefing by Seattle Fire and Public Utilities leaders. While the first two focus on the fire response and what went wrong (as well as what went right), the third lays out a schedule for proposed water-main improvements to be built next year.

The tale of what went wrong at the fire scene is complex, going beyond the water-supply problems, though they are described in detail. The hydrants nearest the home were described as “dead” and “frozen” in the first document: “A sufficient water source had still not been located 12 minutes after the first unit arrived on scene.” And then: “32 minutes into the response, despite efforts to supply them from three different directions, E32 still didn’t have a viable water supply.” It wasn’t just the hydrants – they called for the “hose wagon,” but it turned out to be unavailable; they looked for the “hydrant main map book,” but discovered it was “no longer carried on the Chiefs’ apparatus.” Finally, after laying hose all the way to 35th SW – almost half a mile of hose, says the document – “35 minutes after the first rig arrived on scene, a positive water supply was established.” Ultimately, says the second document, “105 firefighters, officers and medics” were involved in the response.

The third document outlines the water-main-improvement plan; as we have reported in followups since August, in some cases SPU was able to put larger hydrants atop water mains that could provide better pressure with better equipment, but in some cases, the water mains themselves are too small – and have been since before the city annexed the area more than half a century ago. Per the briefing document, the process for the water-main improvements will begin with a community meeting next month. We will find out more when the council committee is briefed toward the end of its 9:30 am meeting tomorrow (if you can’t go, you can watch via the Seattle Channel, cable channel 21 or seattlechannel.org online – we’ll stream it here when this agenda item comes up).

Wednesday’s council-committee meeting is at City Hall downtown and will be live on the Seattle Channel, cable 21 or online.

(Photos by Carol Harrold)
The Arbor Heights Elementary PTA Auction is history – and what a night it was, reports Lisa Olson:

Arbor Heights Elementary would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to everyone in the West Seattle Community and beyond who made last Thursday’s “Adventure Is Out There” Dinner & Auction a smashing success, exceeding the event’s goals. A special shout-out to Gatewood Elementary for the volunteer swap that allowed the Arbor Heights Auction Committee to enjoy the evening. If you were not able to attend the auction and would like to make a contribution to AH’s Technology Fund, this year’s auction “Raise the Paddle” focus to replace/update computer hardware and software, checks can be dropped off or mailed to the Arbor Heights PTA, Attn: Auction Committee, 3701 SW 104th St., Seattle, WA 98146.

Just before 1, we were driving west on SW 98th in Arbor Heights when suddenly the Junior Member of the Team said, “What’s that plane doing?” Big Air Force plane, headed eastbound – slow and relatively low – directly overhead. Pulled over and rolled video till it passed. Figured it out fairly quickly, confirmed by the Seahawks website – pre-game C-17 flyover in honor of Veterans Day (weekend).

ADDED 1:32 PM: Thanks to Anne for sharing this photo:

That was taken from Brace Point, just north of where we saw the flyover. The C-17 is a Boeing-built cargo aircraft, first deployed in 1993.

I am usually quite cautious with solicitors but I uncharastically let me guard down today when this nice but sketchy looking man smoking a cigarette knocked on my door this afternoon.

Before I opened the door I asked who it was and he said a neighbor, from down the street. I opended the door and he had a black lab (with a scarf around his neck) & asked me if he could come back and cut holly branches off my tree for wreaths he was making for a Northwest Harvest Auction. I didn’t recogonize him but not only did I say sure, come by anytime but I gave him my name. It would be nice to believe that he was a nice man doing a nice thing but I just don’t trust people anymore unless I really know them. I regret the whole encounter.

He said his black lab was Lucy and his name was Leroy. White male 6ft, standard build, dirty blonde beard, NW Construction worker look. I am so suscipious of his intentions and now so worried about if and when he comes back. Please post to warn the Arbor Heights neighborhood. I hestitate to give my exact location but I’m on 98th between 37th and 39th Ave SW.

Foolish Arbor Heights Neighbor

(Photo courtesy Meri Patton)
It takes a village … of volunteers … to feed hundreds of hungry people, and here’s part of the team from last night’s PTA-hosted spaghetti dinner/fundraiser (and open house) at Arbor Heights Elementary. The hosts say they couldn’t have done it without donations from Avalon, Angelina’s, B&E Meats and Seafood, Franz Bakery, The Old Spaghetti Factory (Southcenter), Costco, and Target (Westwood Village).