(scroll down for updates, more photos)
(video clip above by WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, added 10:17 am; cameraphone photo below by Patrick Sand, from our original 9 am-hour coverage)
ORIGINAL 9 AM REPORT: Big callout right now to 6339 34th SW (map), and at least one report of “a lot of smoke.” 9:05 AM UPDATE: We’re on scene and can see the smoke. Police are blocking traffic for blocks around the building. The fire’s on the 5th floor and crews are working to get everybody out – this is the big building run by the Housing Authority just east of the convenience store at 35th/Morgan. Co-publisher Patrick Sand is there and says smoke is pouring from one window on the 5th floor. He says medics are checking out at least three people for possible smoke inhalation. 9:14 PM UPDATE: In addition to the cameraphone pic we added above, here’s another view from WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli:
Cindi Barker from the Morgan Community Association — who lives a few blocks west — reports the traffic closure includes 35th/Morgan. SFD spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen is there and says the fire’s tapped.
9:22 AM UPDATE: Note that you also cannot get into Walgreen’s on 35th, just west of the fire scene, because its parking lot is being used as a staging area for some of the many crews that responded to this fire at the building (Stewart Manor). Cindi says crews also have been using hydrants from the other side (west side) of 35th.
9:34 AM UPDATE: Buses are being rerouted too. Fire crews are being rotated, as you can hear on the scanner – take a look at the online 911 log to see how many units responded. Crews are sweeping inside the building to check for damage – we just heard one report that the 4th floor, beneath the fire, “has no smoke or water damage.” Stewart Manor has 72 units, according to this SHA webpage.
9:41 AM UPDATE: SFD’s Vander Houwen just talked with us. She says 12 people in all are being treated for potential smoke inhalation. One was taken to Harborview Medical Center because of previous respiratory problems. The fire was in one unit on the fifth floor, no word on the cause so far; everyone’s out of the building and the sweep will determine if it’s safe for some to go back in.
9:56 AM UPDATE: Police have just reopened 35th SW to traffic in both directions. We just got an update at the scene from SFD’s Vander Houwen – investigators have not yet determined the cause; the fire was in one unit, on the east side of the 5th floor, with some smoke/water damage to an adjacent unit. Floors 1-3 have been cleared for people to go back in. More of the fire units are about to be cleared from the scene, but some will be there all day continuing to check air quality in the building. Adding more photos — WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli took this one of someone being evacuated down a fire-truck ladder:
10:08 AM UPDATE: Bill Bacon at One Community Commons (kitty corner from Stewart Manor) took this photo – as you can see from the smoke, this was before the fire was out:
The smoke-inhalation cases are the only injuries that SFD has reported – nobody wound up jumping or getting hurt in other ways – you’ll see more of the fire crews’ evacuation work in video that we will have back at HQ shortly.
10:29 AM UPDATE: Added Christopher’s video at the very top of the story. Also received another photo from nearby resident Bill – this woman, who identified herself as Grace, had just been brought out of the building at this moment:
He also photographed medics checking evacuees out in the triage area they’d set up:
10:57 AM UPDATE: Update from SFD’s Vander Houwen – two people have gone to Harborview for “minor smoke inhalation,” both by private ambulance. The other 10 people who got medic attention did not need to go to the hospital. Still no cause or damage estimate yet. She says the one person you see being brought down a ladder is the only one who had to be evacuated that way – everybody else was brought out by the stairs. Here’s a view we haven’t shown you yet – part of the massive response – this clip was taken looking all the way around from a spot on Morgan at 34th:
11:26 AM UPDATE: Morgan also has just reopened, per Nuni in comments.
11:59 AM UPDATE: Here’s video of the entire 4-minute briefing that SFD spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen gave at the scene:
ADDED 12:19 PM: As you heard her say in that video, one main task for the firefighters was making sure everybody got out safely, especially considering there are elderly and medically challenged residents in the building, as you can see in these additional photos from WSB contributing photojournalists – first from Christopher Boffoli, second from Matt Durham:
Again, no major injuries were reported. Matt (who has worked as a newspaper photojournalist and also currently works as a firefighter in a department outside Seattle) also reported that three-year Stewart Manor resident Michael E. Searcy, shown in the photo above, told him the hallways were dark as they evacuated: “We don’t have any emergency lighting when the power goes out. … There are no sprinklers; they say our building is grandfathered.” We will follow up on this with the Housing Authority. Meantime, the latest post-fire update from Vander Houwen – three patients are now reported to have gone to Harborview for “minor smoke inhalation.”
1:56 PM UPDATE: As Mookie notes in comments, SFD has announced the cause on Twitter:
Fire at 34th and Morgan ruled accidental – caused by resident heating shoe polish with hand held flame which spread to the bed. Damage $175k.
3:08 PM UPDATE: Seattle Times (WSB partner) talked with a resident of the unit, who explained what was happening with said shoe polish – here’s their story.
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