15th SW apartment-fire update: “Smoking materials” blamed

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Seattle Fire investigators say the 15th SW apartment fire was an accident – started by “smoking materials” thrown into a trash bag. (Additional photos at top and bottom of this post just sent in today by DJ Sonsteng.) Meantime, WSMom posted this comment following the original WSB report. Way to go:

I happened upon the apartment fire and called 911 at about 3:30 this afternoon. “Seattle Police and Fire, can you hold please” is the answer I received. It’s interesting what goes through your mind at a time like this. The fire was quite big and there was an impressive amount of smoke. I stayed on hold, hoping someone else had already gotten through to a real operator. Not knowing what I should do, I started pounding on doors and yelling “FIRE, GET OUT”. We should all learn how to say “fire” and “get out of the building” in Spanish. When the 911 operator came on the line, she asked if there were people in the building and when I said yes she told me to get them out. It was actually reassuring to be told to do what I was already doing. I carried a little boy out of his family’s apartment and helped him get his shoes on once we were at the sidewalk. His parents had their hands full lifting their newborn’s stroller down the stairs. It was very cold outside and all the little boy had on were pajamas, so I was glad to find some of my son’s outgrown clothes in a giveaway bag in my car and I set to work putting some warm clothes on the child. His parents didn’t speak English so I used the universal language of pointing and shivering to get their permission to dress their child. Right about this time the first of four or five fire trucks pulled up and quickly got the fire under control. My son sat patiently in the car the whole time waiting for me to get back and continue on to his brother’s basketball game. I’m going to make it a point tomorrow to learn how to say “fire, get out” in Spanish just in case.

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22 Replies to "15th SW apartment-fire update: "Smoking materials" blamed"

  • coffee geek January 8, 2008 (8:50 am)

    Not to start a flame-fest, but one might think moving to a foreign country could necessitate learning the basics of said country’s native language…at the very least for the benefit of one’s children in emergency situations. The writer’s statement, “We should all learn how to say “fire” and “get out of the building” in Spanish.” is well intentioned and kind, but promotes irresponsibility. The US is a melting pot, not a lunch tray with divided compartments.

  • latte mom January 8, 2008 (9:25 am)

    I so agree! I would expect to learn the local language if traveling or moving to another country. It is a cop-out not learning English when living in the U.S. as there are numerous classes and sources to learn the language.

  • ivan January 8, 2008 (9:48 am)

    Yes, “one might think.” How does it “promote irresponsibility” to save lives in a potential life-or-death situation, by whatever means necessary? Shame on you! Shame, I say!

    “Fuego! Va a fuera!” means “Fire! Go outside!” in Spanish. Maybe “Learn English, darn you” makes *you* feel like a better U.S. citizen, but it doesn’t work for me, especially if some of those residents are infants who haven’t learned to speak *any* language yet.

  • Mike#2 January 8, 2008 (9:59 am)

    my question is why have there been three fires within one mile of each other?

  • WSB January 8, 2008 (10:32 am)

    Mike2 – this one was smoking, the recent apt fire was stuff too close to a heater, I don’t know that we ever got a final report on the cause of the house fire at the south end of Delridge – so at least there’s not an arsonist at work. Only major unsolved arson in WS remains the construction fire at 4132 California from a few months ago.

  • WSMom January 8, 2008 (10:32 am)

    I have traveled to Paris twice and even took a “French language for travelers” class before going, yet it never occurred to me to learn how to say & understand “fire, get out” in French. I can say hello, thank you, and may I please use your toilet. To my embarrassment, I found learning a second language beyond difficult and was grateful that many French spoke English.

    My impression was that the family I helped yesterday may have recently immigrated as they had very little furniture and household goods. I would have felt better if I could have easily been understood in those circumstances. The point I was trying to make in suggesting we all learn how to say “fire” in Spanish was that given the fact that there are many Spanish speaking folks in our neighborhood, it might behoove us to learn a few emergency phrases just to make everyone’s life easier. Who knows who might be there to help us English only-ers out of a burning building.

  • coffee geek January 8, 2008 (10:35 am)

    Ivan, perhaps you should look into your own understanding of the native language. My point is this: If I moved to Mexico, I’d learn Spanish. If I moved to Germany, I’d learn German. France, French. Japan, Japanese. If I reside in a country that speaks a different language it is my responsibility to learn that language. It is a point of pride, responsibility, and independence.

  • Aidan Hadley January 8, 2008 (10:51 am)

    What is a “melting pot” anyways? It sounds like a stew where all of the ingredients combine into a uniform brown mush. I rather think of the USA as a tossed salad where all of the ingredients retain their color, flavor and texture.

    Canadians learn English and French side by side in school without any great difficulty or inconvenience. With the burgeoning Spanish-speaking population in the US maybe we should start teaching English and Spanish side-by-side. When I learned Spanish in school it made me a better student because it gave me greater insight into the origins and nuances of English.

    There seems to be an undertone of racism and fear in all of this drum beating about “them” playing by “our” rules. In fifty years, when the whole world is speaking Mandarin Chinese you people are going to BEG to use Spanish!

  • coffee geek January 8, 2008 (10:54 am)

    WSMom: I’d wager many of the French you encountered were impressed you at least tried to speak the native language. I know people that have traveled to Europe and came back complaining “not enough people spoke English”….amazing. :(

  • coffee geek January 8, 2008 (11:04 am)

    Aidan, enough quackery on “drum beating” and “undertones of racism”. Next will you make accusations of driving a Hummer solo in the HOV lane while listening to Rush Limbaugh? Stop jumping to conclusions. I voted for Kerry, darnit! BTW, I like the idea of compulsory foreign language training in our schools. ;)

  • BlueMax January 8, 2008 (11:16 am)

    In a culturally diverse community that we live, thank you WSMOM for the bravery to get involved, even it meant engaging an unfamiliar culture. Regretably, this doesn’t appear to be everyone’s focus.

  • WSMom January 8, 2008 (11:31 am)

    Coffee geek: I read a report that the French hotel managers voted Americans as most adventuresome in trying foods and most likely to try to speak French while visiting their country. It made me proud that perhaps we’re shedding the “ugly” American image while traveling. Now if we can just get a President we can not be ashamed of…

  • Bobo January 8, 2008 (11:36 am)

    how horrible!!

  • Aidan Hadley January 8, 2008 (11:50 am)

    coffeegeek: There’s quackery and there’s holding up a mirror. If you’re going to take an intolerant position then you should be prepared to be called on it. I don’t care who you voted for and what kind of license you think that gives you. There are just as many bigoted Democrats as there are Republicans. How can you say you’re for compulsory foreign language training in schools when you’re driving around in a car with a bumper sticker that reads: You can have my English dictionary when you pry it from my cold, dead hands?

  • Kayleigh January 8, 2008 (12:34 pm)

    Let me get this straight: I should learn how to say, “Fire, get out!” in Spanish on the exceeeeeeeeeedingly slim chance that I might be in a burning building with people that speak only Spanish? Really?

    I’ll put that task on my list, somewhere after alphabetizing the contents of my refrigerator…

  • coffee geek January 8, 2008 (1:25 pm)

    Aidan: Wild accusations and assumptions just make you look silly. Enjoy your tossed salad and quackers.

    WSMom: That is encourging information…now maybe I can take that Canadian flag off my backpack! Just kidding… ;)

  • ivan January 8, 2008 (4:26 pm)

    Well, Kayleigh, whereas I have made that information available in this very thread, and whereas it is only three words, “Fuego! Va a fuera!” I’d guess you’d find learning them a whole lot easier to accomplish than alphabetizing the contents of your refrigerator.

    But maybe not.

  • flipjack January 8, 2008 (4:51 pm)

    Yes, I’m sure when that family, probably very desperately, decided they needed find a way out of their native country because they couldn’t SURVIVE there any longer and with very little money somehow managed to make it to the united states, really had time to take English classes.
    I would suggest really trying to imagine yourself in the shoes of those less fortunate than you before spouting ignorance.
    Kudos to the guy who stopped and saved those people!!

  • Oliver January 8, 2008 (8:00 pm)

    Kudos to the WOMAN who stopped and saved those people. How thoughtful and awesome that she would think to learn something solely for the purpose of helping others. Some people are wonderful, kind humans who are thinking only of other humans not politics in a life or death situation. Thanks WSMom – from another WS mom.

  • coffee geek January 8, 2008 (11:03 pm)

    Oliver: Don’t you mean kudos to the HUMAN? I mean, why bring politics into this? ;)

  • Mike January 8, 2008 (11:25 pm)

    If everyone that moved here between 1875 and 1925 didn’t bother learning English there would still be millions of people that spoke well over 100 languages that didn’t understand each other. At least they had some sense. I’m gald everyone is all right.

  • Bubba February 12, 2008 (11:52 am)

    If everyone spoke the same language we would all be the same Why does everyone think everybody should know the same languages we were all raised different so there for we will all be different there is no reason to fuss about how other people talk if they speak english or spanish so be it thats what makes us different yes it’s nice when you can speak more then one language cause you can help others and when you travel you can speak whatever it is they speak It really didnt matter if they spoke english or spanish if they couldnt hear or talk what good would it have done anyway. As long as everyone is ok thats all that really matters!

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