VIDEO: Fire at Cottage Grove Commons on Delridge sends 1 to hospital with burns; SFD finds dead man in building, apparently not related

| Delridge | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

12:21 PM: Seattle Fire has sent a big response to a possible fire at Cottage Grove Commons, the DESC-owned supportive-housing building in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW.

12:26 PM: SFD reports that two people are hurt and that the fire is under control.

12:35 PM: Because of the sizable response, Delridge Way is closed for at least a block, between Brandon and Findlay, as Andrew points out in comments and as confirmed by our crew at the scene.

12:50 PM: If you’re seeing/hearing a helicopter in the area, it’s just TV checking this out.

1:12 PM: SFD has just briefed the media on scene, saying one person has gone to Harborview with serious burns; the fire was limited to a mattress in that person’s apartment on the ~~top~~ second floor and the building’s sprinkler system put it out.

The other injured person did not need hospitalization. The Fire Department also says one person was found dead in a nearby apartment, and apparently had died within the past few hours, but that is not believed to have been related to the fire.

2:10 PM: Delridge had reopened and SFD’s fire investigator was on scene when we passed through about 15 minutes ago. We’ll update when there’s official word on the fire’s cause. Though the flames hadn’t spread beyond the aforementioned mattress, SFD says three units had significant damage because of the water from the sprinkler system.

2:50 PM: We’ve added more photos as well as the unedited video of SFD Lt. Sue Stangl‘s earlier briefing.

4:43 PM: If you are in the area and wondering about a new multi-unit response at the building, the 911 log shows it’s an “automatic fire alarm” response.

ADDED EARLY THURSDAY: The Seattle Times reports that the man hospitalized after this fire has died. The County Medical Examiner’s daily media recording lists the death of the 39-year-old burn victim mentioned in the Times’ report but does not specify a location, so we’ll be verifying later this morning. We had checked with SFD on Wednesday to ask about any official ruling on the fire’s cause; not yet, they told us.

sam-c December 22, 2015 (12:22 pm)

Saw all the fire trucks go by. (even ladder 3 made the trip from fisherman’s terminal) hope every one is ok

TI December 22, 2015 (12:27 pm)

A lot of fire trucks! and I still hear them coming. Praying for them….

Andrew December 22, 2015 (12:33 pm)

More than a dozen units on scene, more just arriving. Delridge is closed from Brandon south for at least one block.

WSB December 22, 2015 (12:35 pm)

Andrew, thanks for mentioning the road closure. Our crew should be there by now but I haven’t heard from them yet.

Nick December 22, 2015 (12:50 pm)

They should just put a fire station next door since there is constant fire, ems and police there it has really not had a positive impact on the area

Avery December 22, 2015 (12:52 pm)

I live next door. Huge response, street will probably be blocked a while longer. Helicopter too. Guess I’m not leaving for a bit.

WSB December 22, 2015 (1:24 pm)

As noted in our story, helicopter was just TV trying to get a picture from above, not related to the investigation.

miws December 22, 2015 (1:32 pm)

Nick, by your logic, they should also put fire stations next to Arrowhead Gardens, The Kenney, The Mount…..

Mike

DelTroit December 22, 2015 (1:48 pm)

@ Miws – I’ll trade 46 Merill Gardens, 33 Arrowhead Gardens and 77 Mount St V’s for 1 Cottage Grove DESC economic development boat anchor. Deal?

Joe Szilagyi December 22, 2015 (2:20 pm)

Class, economic, and racial exclusion all in one comment. This is what gives West Seattle a bad name. This is West Seattle, not diseased ghettos like Laurelhurst or Broadmoor. Knock it off.

Diane December 22, 2015 (2:23 pm)

yikes; any info about person who died, and only discovered due to building search re fire?

Diane December 22, 2015 (2:24 pm)

note to self as I’m searching for affordable senior housing; do not move into building with sprinkler system

Mel December 22, 2015 (2:42 pm)

Seeing fire and aid response at DESC (aka Cottage Grove Commons) is such a common occurrence I hardly think about it – this was bigger than most days though, so I thought something might be up. Fortunate that sprinklers are required in modern buildings.

dsa December 22, 2015 (2:49 pm)

Diane, try fact checking this: “no one has died from fire in a multifamily with a sprinkler system”
.
I originally heard it as: no one has *ever* died…
.
You might want to rethink a little water damage.

Mike December 22, 2015 (3:58 pm)

What Joe S said – my thoughts exactly.

Sad neighbor December 22, 2015 (4:56 pm)

Oh how sad. If there is anything the neighbors can do to help, replacing items etc, please let us know. The West Seattle Giving Tree is mighty.

Diane December 22, 2015 (5:07 pm)

this story says “significant damage because of the water from the sprinkler system” from a small mattress fire; my building has VERY LOUD fire alarm system; much preferred to sprinkler system that can ruin all property in multiple apts during a small fire in one apt

WSB December 22, 2015 (5:13 pm)

Since it wasn’t related, I don’t know that we are going to hear anything more. I also don’t know if we’ll even hear the fire’s official cause tonight. Regarding the sprinklers – certainly it’s a choice you can make for your own living situation, but in this case, some of the residents are disabled and I think a sprinkler will save a life quicker than having to wait for rescue.

Diane December 22, 2015 (5:10 pm)

any word on “person found dead in a nearby apartment”?

Community Member December 22, 2015 (7:23 pm)

In 2010, 5 people in Seattle died because of a “small” mattress fire.
.
The point of sprinklers is not that they put out big fires, but that they can prevent small fires from spreading.

Ken December 22, 2015 (9:44 pm)

Why does the PI reporter think that apartment is in “Highpoint”? City services in that area were never labeled anything other than Delridge in the past. Both Delridge and Highpoint are “redlined” out of fiber via Century link but I think that is not enough to change the name of the neighborhood.

ltfd December 22, 2015 (10:24 pm)

Good post, Community Member. Additionally, in properties that have a fire, the dollar loss is LOWER in sprinklered buildings than in unsprinklered buildings.

Kaykay December 23, 2015 (7:40 am)

I work at the gas station so a lot of the people from Cottage Grove frequent the store every day. The man who died in his sleep was a nice gentleman very very sad, I seen him always riding his bike always cheerful when he came into the store. The man who set himself on fire I don’t remember who it is but a resident told me I’ve seen him many times.

MrVince December 23, 2015 (10:44 am)

Thanks Kaykay and Joe S.
Let’s not be so quick to judge.

” Anybody can be a king. As long as they have someone to look down on”

“fire sprinklers save lives”

Alan December 24, 2015 (9:46 am)

The Seattle Times reported last night that the man that went to Harborview with burns has died.

WSB December 24, 2015 (10:07 am)

If you look at the story, I added that overnight, as well as the fact that SFD is still not listing an official fire cause. However, I have not yet directly confirmed that the name and burn death listed on the ME’s media hotline was the person at Cottage Grove Commons – the ME’s hotline is generally simply name, age, cause of death, without getting into incident specifics. Not calling it into question but we generally can’t take anyone else’s work for gospel any more (nor would I expect them to do that for ours).