UPDATE: Seattle Fire ‘full response’ to Alaska House apartments – no fire

9:56 AM: Seattle Fire has a full response arriving at Alaska House apartments in The Junction for a report of a possible fire on the (update) ninth floor Updates to come.

9:59 AM: Firefighters have not yet confirmed a fire – but an alarm is sounding.

10:02 AM: Firefighters are telling dispatch that it appears the alarm was set off by dust from concrete grinding – but they’re checking every floor to be sure.

10:04 AM: And that’s now verified. They say the grinding is happening in the basement but the dust apparently has spread to multiple floors.

10:06 AM: However, firefighters have just said they “recommend to have all residents stay down in the hallways – the air is not good for breathing.” That’s of note particularly because the building is primarily for senior/disabled tenants.

10:25 AM: Just talked to the incident commander. They don’t think it was a lot of dust – they’re using a fan to clear the air.

ItDoesntMatter August 5, 2022 (10:02 am)

No visible smoke yet.

Sarah August 5, 2022 (10:03 am)

I just saw a few fire trucks rushing that way on Avalon.

Erithan August 5, 2022 (10:04 am)

White smoke on the 7th floor here. Smells like chemicals vs food. They just turned off alarms so hopefully have found the source.

WSB August 5, 2022 (10:06 am)

Concrete grinding, apparently in the basement.
- Erithan August 5, 2022 (10:32 am)
  
  Thanks, just finding that out, it looked like fog or white smoke initially.
  - sam-c August 5, 2022 (11:16 am)
    
    What alarming surprise. Glad everyone is okay and hope nobody has any breathing problems.
    - Sue Luke August 5, 2022 (2:56 pm)
      
      People here do indeed have breathing issues. Management and maintenance here doesn’t care.
    - Erithan August 5, 2022 (8:50 pm)
      
      Can confirm, I’m one of them and have had trouble breathing all day, my throat is still tight and my lungs burn. :(Management told me they won’t clean (or even run a wet mop to get a little) until Monday because it’s “too much”. The dust is thick enough where you can leave footprints, and we have no way to keep it from getting into door cracks or the vents into our apartments. I wish I knew where to report this, it’s so wrong to leave all the toxic dust around for the entire weekend.

Oerthehillz August 5, 2022 (10:33 am)

Never choose the lowest bidder as this is what you get. The dust should have been contained during work.

Erithan August 5, 2022 (8:52 pm)

We weren’t even told something was being done, and normally they have to warn us at the very least. They sadly do everything as cheaply as possible here, with 0 regard to us or our health. They know we can’t afford to move, and they bank on that. :/

Jay August 5, 2022 (10:52 am)

There are ways to do this without setting off the alarms. When this happens it can be (not accusing anyone of anything here) property owners cutting corners with unlicensed contractors/subcontractors. I think it would be best for the residents to inquire about the issue with the landlord.

Sue Luke August 5, 2022 (2:53 pm)

Jay,The residents of this building have no say at all. Since it’s a Project-based Section 8 for seniors and disabled, we have no recourse to getting help. I have tried twice (with others) to establish a strong tenants group, but the residents are so unnecessarily afraid of being evicted it hasn’t worked.

Sue Luke August 5, 2022 (2:47 pm)

It’s 2pm here, and the fire alarm in the front entry is still beeping very loudly. In the past, it would continue for days. I am hoping that it gets fixed soon!

Diane August 6, 2022 (12:28 am)

it’s absolutely appalling how inhumanely elders are treated in “affordable senior housing”; thank you to all the brave residents for your truth-telling comments

Maura NíConnell August 6, 2022 (1:15 am)

Boy, I am glad I held out for a property managed by Seattle Housing Authority. Our building is older, run-down in common areas and we do have problems but management alerts us to when maintenance will be making noise or making repairs to our entire building. We also have a residents council and we’re not afraid to bring issues to management. Seattle Housing Authority is, by no means perfect, but our management team actually LISTENS to our concerns and tries to solve problems.

Annie Bather August 9, 2022 (6:07 pm)

Junis (Maintanance Man) has just mopped the floors.;This was in the morning of Tuesday August 9, 2022.; Thank you so much.; It only took four days.;We all had to ask each other what was going on;No notices of the danger.; I guess when the people had breathing problems with the dust, that was the warning.;