(Video/photos by Patrick Sand for WSB; clip substituted at 9:26 am for earlier photos)
8:10 AM: On our way to a fire in single-family residence call in the 9600 block of 48th SW (map).
8:19 AM: There are flames, according to the scanner, and part of the building is in danger of collapse, so firefighters are being kept away from that side. Our crew is just arriving – there’s a significant amount of smoke, even from a distance. Flames are still visible. We’re being told by neighbors that the house is almost a century old.
8:28 AM: Just added photos. Our crew is just feet from the house but the smoke is so thick, you can’t see the flames – it’s still burning – via cameraphone. No report of any injuries but too soon to tell for sure.
8:41 AM: Firefighters still actively fighting – some flames visible on 1st floor (it’s a 2-story house). Looks like a Seattle Fire Department public-information officer has arrived on scene, which means we should have more specifics soon from the fire crews. Meantime, scanner traffic (8:45 am) indicates that an “occupant” from the house is “at a neighbor’s house.”
(OUR AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE CONTINUES POST-JUMP)
8:48 AM: Our crew just talked with Lt. Sue Stangl – when crews arrived, flames were pouring from every window of the house – they were also told by two people, upon arrival, that everyone was out and everyone was OK (SFD is not sure yet if those two people were residents or neighbors). (added, video of our interview)
Lt. Stangl says the building remains unstable, and the fire is not yet under control – it’s going to take a while.
9:00 AM: Our crew is back processing video – also just added photo above this line, showing flames visible inside the house, looking in from outside (via zoom lens). It’ll be a while before investigators figure out how this started.
10 AM: The Red Cross is heading out to help the person described on the scanner as “the occupant.” The fire itself still isn’t out; a ladder truck was asked to help get water on what’s left of the house from above. We’re heading back to the scene to check on both of the above.
10:46 AM: Just back. Still some flames inside the house – fire’s not out yet, after almost three hours. Meantime, nearby resident Amy has shared this photo she took shortly after flames became visible:
11:01 AM: Per scanner, they have finally determined the correct street address: 9635 48th SW (different from what’s been on the 911 log all morning).
12:46 PM: A little more information from Lt. Stangl: The first word of the fire came from an automatic fire alarm that triggered an SFD response, upgraded to “full response” when it was followed by neighbors’ calls reporting flames. The residents were not home at the time. Still waiting for investigators to determine the cause when it’s safe to go inside.
2:30 PM: Update from neighbors who have spoken with the residents: The couple *was* home at the time, as were their three dogs. They told neighbors that they came downstairs and saw flames coming from an area near a baseboard heater; they had just gotten back last night from an out-of-town trip during which a housesitter stayed with their dogs, and they wondered if maybe the dogs had knocked something close to the heater while they were gone. (Investigators have not announced a cause.) They fled the house with very little – the wife’s purse; the husband with just a few things he could grab before the heavy smoke forced him to flee.
3:02 PM: Fire investigators have determined they won’t be able to officially figure out how the fire started, as what’s left of the structure is too unsafe to go inside. Loss is estimated at about $300,000.
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