1:45 PM: Firefighters are responding to a house-fire call in the 3900 block of SW Arroyo Drive (map), in southwesternmost West Seattle.

1:55 PM: There’s still smoke, according to radio communications.

Commenters and a caller reported black smoke initially, turning white after firefighters arrived and started putting water on the fire. Our crew should be there shortly. (Photo added above, courtesy of commenter Joel)

2:03 PM: The fire is reported to be under control. No word of any injuries so far.

2:11 PM: Our crew on the scene says the fire is in a building behind the home on this property, and the damage and smoke are clearly visible.

2:25 PM UPDATE: Our crew just talked to the incident commander, who in turn had been talking with the property owner. Nobody was home at the time; no injuries. The building had been used for storage, and its contents are heavily damaged. The cause is not yet known – we’ll update the story later when investigators make a determination.

(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Another short-lived fire call this morning is wrapping up right now in the 8600 block of 13th SW (map). The incident commander tells us a propane barbecue appears to be to blame for a small fire that damaged the back of the house. No injuries reported.

1:18 PM UPDATE: From SFD’s Kyle Moore:

The cause is a BBQ left on all night. It ignited the deck and the side of the house but the flames did not get into the home. The damage estimate is $30,000. The homeowner was home and tried to fight the fire with a garden hose after calling 911.

1:21 PM UPDATE: Moore says the fire “was caused by improperly discarded smoking materials. The smoking materials ignited nearby combustibles and the porch. The damage estimate is less than $1,000. No one was home at the time of the fire.”

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) crews will install a red reflective ring on low-flow fire hydrants in your neighborhood. Low-flow hydrants are defined as those that deliver less than 500 gallons of water per minute.

The red ring provides a distinct and very visible way for Seattle Fire Department personnel to quickly and easily identify low-flow hydrants in cases of emergency.

Low-flow hydrants are fully operational, but output less water per minute than other hydrants.

The clearly marked hydrants aid firefighters by helping ensure that the best fire-suppression tactics are chosen when operating a low-flow hydrant.

More than 18,000 fire hydrants are located throughout the City of Seattle, of which about 70 are classified as low-flow hydrants and will be tagged with the red ring.

Dates/Times: Crews will begin installing the rings the week of May 20 and expect to have all low-flow hydrants throughout the city marked by the end of May 2013.

If you have questions about this work, please contact SPU Hydrant Crew Chief Charles Jackson at (206) 396-1826 or charles.jackson@seattle.gov.

SPU’s Ingrid Goodwin says about half those 70 low-flow hydrants are in West Seattle. We’re hoping to hear tomorrow about a map or list of their locations – but please let us know if and when you see any of these rings being installed in your area!

A house fire on 28th SW a few blocks south of Roxbury, next to Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor). is under investigation this morning. The house is just north of the campus, separated by a driveway and embankment, so there was no damage at the school. The fire started after 11 pm; the incident commander from North Highline Fire District told us nobody was home at the time, and nobody was hurt. A county fire investigator arrived on the scene while we were there and started working to find out how the fire started.

(Photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
2:15 AM: A big Seattle Fire callout is en route to the 9000 block of 35th SW (map). The callout is “fire in a building.” The reported address checks to the Barton Court apartment building.

2:25 AM: Via radio: Crews say the fire is in a first-floor unit, and they have it “knocked down” – crews are checking the other floors and haven’t found evidence of spreading, though they’re reporting smoke on the second floor. No word of any injuries, so far.

2:36 AM: From the scene, co-publisher Patrick Sand reports that the tenants evacuated safely and were gathering across 35th outside Southwest Library (photo above) – at least 20 tenants, and several pets. (Here’s one – Taco the cat:)

Firefighters are calling for a Metro bus to give them a place to gather. The smoke in the area is thick, he says. The massive response has 35th SW basically blocked off between Henderson and (to the south) Barton. Compounding matters for all involved: Pounding rain.

3:03 AM: Patrick reports that the fire seems to be out and the concern now is for the evacuees, who as you might expect had to rush out of their apartments not particularly dressed for the outdoors, much less pouring rain. Still awaiting the aforementioned bus. No word if any of them will be able to get back into their apartments tonight – we hope to hear that from the SFD public-information officer that’s been summoned to the scene.

3:31 AM: Update from the scene: A librarian showed up and let the evacuees into Southwest Library to take refuge from the chilly rain. Meantime, some of the SFD units are clearing out and heading back to their stations.

3:51 AM: The incident commander tells us 32 people in all had to leave their apartments – no telling how soon they’ll be allowed back inside, though the damage was reported as largely confined to one first-floor unit and the hall outside it.

(And the Metro bus for the evacuees finally arrived.) 35th is still closed between Henderson and Barton.

4:30 AM: Above, that’s our video of the incident commander’s briefing. Also added a few more photos.

4:43 AM: In comments, a tenant says some of the residents have been allowed back inside.

10:33 AM UPDATE: Seattle Fire spokesperson Kyle Moore says “an electrical malfunction in the kitchen range which ignited combustible materials in the kitchen” is to blame for the fire, adding: “Investigators say the kitchen fire extended to the living room of the bottom level unit. The fire is being ruled accidental. … The apartment resident says a smoke detector alerted her to the fire which allowed her to safely escape. The Red Cross was called to assist the one resident with temporary shelter. The damage estimate is $47,000.”

(WSB photos added 11:16 am: Sign posted on P-Patch shed)
Seattle Police are investigating a shed fire at Longfellow Creek P-Patch in Westwood this morning after it was determined to be arson. From Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kyle Moore:

Fire Investigators have determined a shed fire located at a West Seattle P-Patch is an incendiary fire.

At 6:50 a.m., a delivery driver called 911 to report a shed fire located in the park in the 2400 block of SW Thistle Street. Engine 11 arrived to find a smoldering pile of combustibles in a wheelbarrow bucket.

The fire was quickly extinguished. There was also minor scorching to the shed.

The damage estimate is $500. The Seattle Police Department’s Arson Bomb Squad was notified of the fire and will investigate.

Anyone with information that can help solve this case is asked to call the Arson Hotline at 800-55-ARSON.

The garden area where this fire happened is alongside Longfellow Creek, just east of Chief Sealth International High School. According to the P-Patch’s city website, it has more than two dozen garden plots.

(Photo by David Ryder)
If you saw the smoke last night in the Admiral area – it was from that car fire in the West Seattle High School parking lot, caught on camera by photographer David Ryder. Because of conflicting incidents/events last night, we didn’t get there until the fire was already out and firefighters had departed, but followed up after getting questions today.

(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kyle Moore says it was a one-engine callout, but since there was nothing extraordinary about it, he has no information on its cause and says the fire crew that handled it is off-duty today, so he can’t check with them, but he notes that the fire marshal wasn’t called out – which would have been the case if there had been anything suspicious – and no medic unit was called, meaning no serious injuries, if any.

ADDED THURSDAY MORNING: Moore has since been able to reach the crew, and says: “The driver of the car said smoke started in the steering column when she tried to start the car. The most likely cause of the fire was an electrical fire inside the steering column.” He also confirms that no one was hurt.

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
(10:18 pm) We’re checking out the fire response in the 5900 block of SW Stevens, about half a block west – reduced from what was originally a “full response.” (added 10:25 pm) A neighbor says there was “a lot of smoke” initially but whatever it was, it appears to be out now, and units are clearing the scene. (added 10:31 pm) Christopher Boffoli reports it was “food on the stove.”

Christina shared that photo of a scary but short-lived sight in front of the New Apostolic Church at 32nd and 106th in east Arbor Heights last night. The call was logged as “brush fire”; we checked this morning with Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kyle Moore, who says that once Engine 37 got there, they had it “knocked down in less than a minute.” He adds that it’s believed to have been sparked by “improperly discarded smoking materials” – a reminder that it doesn’t have to be the dusty dry heart of summer for a tossed-aside cigarette (etc.) to cause trouble.

12:59 AM: Call’s closed, which means the crews have cleared from the scene.