West Seattle, Washington
31 Saturday
We didn’t go to Westwood Village tonight in search of our semi-traditional Sunday sunset photo, much less infobits, but we found both …
The WV infobits: #1, West Seattle bestselling author Terry Brooks is coming back to the WV Barnes & Noble, August 28th @ 6:30 pm, almost a year after his last stop there; #2, the Pet Pros store in the old laundromat spot next to QFC is now open.
Went to Belvedere Viewpoint to see how the Admiral paving turned out, among other things. The whole stretch that was closed for nighttime work toward the end of last week (Admiral between Olga and 41st) looks good; here’s a small section shining during a sunbreak:
Looking out toward downtown from the same viewpoint, we enjoyed a great view of everybody out fishing on Elliott Bay:
(l to r: latest from cams over WS Bridge midspan looking east, WS Bridge I-5 ramps, I-5 @ Spokane Street in whichever direction WSDOT chooses to point it)
The WSDOT update page says some of the work is going faster than expected, but they’re still keeping a watchful eye out for showers this afternoon. Not surprisingly, traffic volumes are down; the advance alerts to HIDE UNDER YOUR BED TILL IT’S OVER!!!! worked this weekend — but what about tomorrow, when many of us don’t have the luxury of staying home or even telecommuting? Starting just after 6 am tomorrow, we will have one team member out in the WSB-mobile, checking out the commute (and alternatives), while another one mans the keyboard here at WSB World HQ, so that we can post “real-time updates” (including pix) in addition to showing an expanded selection of live cams. Yes, we know, counting us, there will be so many “news” vehicles out “checking the commute” it’ll be worse than it would have been otherwise. Forgive us. Speaking of media, we got this photo of channel 7 interviewing someone at the WS Kiwanis booth at the Farmers’ Market today. P’raps another “how is West Seattle surviving in this time of transportation crisis” story? (7 PM PS: Our guess was close … it was one quick comment at the end of the “everything’s OK today but ARE WE PREPARED FOR TOMORROW?” story at the start of the 5 pm news.)
The sealady.org site is up. Nothing there about the 9/11/07 Bathhouse arrival, though.
Lots of notes about the fire this morning at Longfellow Creek Apartments (5915 Delridge, same area as one of the recent shootings). 11:30 AM UPDATE: This photo just in from WSB reader Joel (thank you!); more info beneath it. 2:56 PM UPDATE: Some video here.
ORIGINAL 10:26 AM POST: Here’s WSB reader Sage K’s eyewitness account from the inbox (thank you to everyone who wrote!):
A fire started around 4 am in the Longfellow Creek Apartments @ 5915 Delridge Way SW. The fire was contained to D building where it started and no one was seriously hurt. Apparently the fire started when someone on the ground level was smoking in bed and set an oxygen tank on fire. The fire-starter got some minor burns to their feet from trying to stomp the fire out and was taken to the hospital for treatment. But no one else had injuries. The fire spread up the back side of the building through the balconies and to the roof. The roof was vented over the fire and damage was mostly contained to those 2 apartments right above the flash point. Several people will be displaced; the Red Cross was on hand to help them with accommodations. A Metro bus was brought in for the displaced people to wait in out of the cold until everything was sorted out and they were able to be escorted in to gather some belongings. I saw around 8 fire trucks, 2 command vehicles and a command post along with a few aid cars. By about 8am most of the scene was cleared and vehicle access was returned to Delridge. I live in (a different) building of that complex as was lucky enough to be as far as possible from the fire. People here were really good about helping out their neighbors in their time of need.
Before you go (10 am-2 pm today): the citywide Farmers’ Market organization has beefed up its website, including a weekly list of what’s new at WS and other sites.
| 1 COMMENT