UPDATE: Truck fire in White Center; West Seattle crews assist

| Helicopter | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news | White Center

5:35 AM: Thanks for the tips. The helicopter you might have heard over White Center/South Delridge was TV, checking out a fire call on 16th in downtown WC, just south of Roxbury. West Seattle fire units were dispatched for mutual aid for a while. We have a crew checking it out.

5:52 AM: What caught fire was a refrigerated truck trailer parked by a building at 15th/SW 98th that firefighters also say sustained damage. No injuries. Power’s out because lines were involved. (The TV helicopter has long since moved on to something else elsewhere in the region.)

6:13 AM: Added photos. Metro says buses that use 15th SW in the area might be affected; fire trucks were still blocking that street when we left a few minutes ago – we’ll be going back after sunrise for a closer look.

9:58 AM: The investigation continues:

In the photo above, you can see the blackened area where the fire spread to the building by which the trailer was parked.

Holly September 13, 2017 (5:39 am)

I thought it was a manhunt! The helicopter just faded away.

WSB September 13, 2017 (5:45 am)

They’ve moved on to something else out of the area. Meantime, we should have some info shortly from our crew on the ground.

Sleepy Head September 13, 2017 (6:05 am)

Television?

TELEVISION???

I had a helicopter literally above my house for 20 minutes at an ungodly hour of the morning creating a horrible amount of racket and preventing even the remotest attempt at sleep so they could have 10 seconds of footage for TELEVISION???
(I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we don’t have a serial killer on the loose or whatever, but seriously?)

WSB September 13, 2017 (6:25 am)

Yes, the flight tracker indicated it was the shared KOMO/KING helicopter, as did the exchange monitored by scanner. It did look pretty big on paper for a while, with a West Seattle engine and battalion chief assigned to go for “mutual aid.”
Duanob September 13, 2017 (9:17 am)

Ridiculous isn’t it? It’s not like news copters are all that necessary, especially when they are just a nuisance. I thought it was Guardian One or something. Thanks KOMO news for waking the entire neighborhood.
JRR September 13, 2017 (12:16 pm)

I, too, am irritated by the local media’s tendency to show up here when they want something salacious with imagery. Stop exploiting our neighborhood for ratings.

Buhamon September 13, 2017 (6:18 am)

What the heck halpened?

WSB September 13, 2017 (6:26 am)

They hadn’t figured out yet how it started.

Jennifer September 13, 2017 (6:36 am)

How odd. I live on 1st Ave S and thought something was going on down the street. There were a bunch of cop cars in addition to the helicopter.

WSB September 13, 2017 (6:39 am)

If you’re in Top Hat, that was a search late last night, unrelated to this morning’s fire. But we were out on that one too.

http://whitecenternow.com/2017/09/12/helicopter-search-after-top-hat-marijuana-shop-holdup/

datamuse September 13, 2017 (8:46 am)

Huh. I woke up around 6 am to a smell of smoke so strong that I got up to see if there was a fire in or around the house. I live close to a mile away from that intersection but maybe…?

miws September 13, 2017 (10:51 am)

Datamuse, quite possible. But, FWIW, I’m about three of the long blocks to the north and a short block to the west and didn’t notice any smoke smell through my cracked-open-overnight bedroom windows at the time of the fire. But, with the on-off smoky air we’ve had the past month and a half, maybe I don’t notice anymore.

However, the fire at the Lam-Bow apartments (near-ish SW Precinct) from nearly a year ago, I could smell a *very* strong smell of smoke. Even being aware of that fire, I went out and checked near my apartment just to be sure. I almost thought that the vacant house at 9029 16th had caught fire yet again, (which it actually *did* late last February).

Mike

Graciano September 13, 2017 (4:04 pm)

What the heck, am I the only one that gets up at 4am every day for work? the helicopter would had just been an extra alarm clock for me.

WSB September 13, 2017 (4:16 pm)

By 4 am, I’ve usually barely gone *to* bed. So it was a very early alarm clock. But thanks again to those who texted because of it, so we could go find out what was going on. – TR

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