Big fire near Spokane Street Viaduct diverts traffic from WS

We tweeted about this a couple times earlier this morning – it’s not technically in West Seattle and we thought it would be over before anybody much was affected – but a couple notes have come in so we’d better post it here too. The eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct is closed off while firefighters battle what an SFD spokesperson calls “a 2-alarm fire” at a “metal-fabricating warehouse” on lower Spokane Street. We happened to be coming back from downtown after midnight when we saw the roadblock and the billowing smoke. Helen Fitzpatrick of SFD says flames were shooting from the 1-story warehouse’s roof at 111 S. Spokane St. (map) when fire crews arrived; one firefighter’s slightly hurt, nobody was in the building, no word yet on a cause. If you drive eastbound to I-5, you’re likely to see the fire scene smoldering to the south during your morning commute. Here’s the fire vicinity, in a Google Street View photo:


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3 AM UPDATE: One new bit of information from the fire department since we first posted – the fire was under control as of 2:30 am. The investigation has not yet started, but fire crews will be there all night. Seattle City Light had to turn off power to the surrounding area and more than 400 “customers” are without power at the moment as a result.

26 Replies to "Big fire near Spokane Street Viaduct diverts traffic from WS"

  • ScottA January 8, 2009 (3:35 am)

    Always unfortunate when a fire strikes. I hope lives and jobs are OK. On a lighter note:

    If you go east a few steps in the Street View image and look right you’ll see the Pacific Sheet Metal sign with three cartoon-like human faces (founders or something). Google blurred the faces of Larry and Curly but Moe is still visible in the middle! nice to know our privacy is safe!

  • zerodacus January 8, 2009 (5:32 am)

    I drove past about an hour ago, the viaduct is open, but the off ramp to 1st avenue was blocked. You could see the flames on the roof of the building, but it looked like it was about out.

  • Eddie January 8, 2009 (5:59 am)

    Amazing! When I passed by on the Spokane Street Viaduct around 5:20am, there were flames quite visible and a lot of smoke rolling across the elevated roadway. From the looks of the flames – so visible from the viaduct – I thought this was a relatively recent fire. Now, checking with THE source for all things news, I find that the fire is over 6 hours old.

  • JB January 8, 2009 (6:22 am)

    Is the WS Bridge closed? A friend just called me from downtown and said it was closed in both directions. And if the fire is on Spokane, is the lower bridge closed too??

  • ChristineDS January 8, 2009 (7:05 am)

    My husband is calling from nearby there now… says SFD is still pouring water on the building, that all that’s left is girders and poles.

    1st Ave Southbound from Spokane is still closed. The light at the bottom of the ramp is still out.

  • M January 8, 2009 (7:05 am)

    Buses that normally take 1st Ave are still being rerouted to the lower bridge and then over to 1st a block south of Forest. This is confusing passengers who normally get off at 1st and Spokane.

  • B'sMomma January 8, 2009 (7:21 am)

    I just drove in to Sodo from West Seattle and the 1st Ave/Spokane Street Exit was open. The traffic lights weren’t on and there wasn’t anyone directing traffic. People are treating it as a 4 way stop. The Fire Department was still up on ladders hosing the building and still lots of smoke.

  • Ken January 8, 2009 (7:31 am)

    The scanner traffic reveals traffic is buggered and getting worse as fire and SPD try to agree over what cars and buses are allowed to do.

    It seems to be a massive cluster****.

    The location pretty much makes this inevitable though.

  • JimmyG January 8, 2009 (7:36 am)

    At 0642 hours they were still dumping lots of water on it as I went by on the viaduct.
    Of course traffice slows to look at the big pumper spraying water.
    It smells bad, stinky melted plastic smell–peeyoo–I couldn’t get away from that stink fast enough.

  • Aim January 8, 2009 (7:43 am)

    Just commuted into SODO — 1st Ave NB is CLOSED at Andover, had to turn around and go back across 1st Ave Bridge to cut acrtoss to 4th. 4th is extremely backed up as Spokane St EB is closed @ 4th. Huge fire and police presence 1st and Spokane both closed for about 4 blocks surrounding the intersection.

    Recommendation – if you are coming into SODO from S. WS, take Roxbury or Highland Park Wy to get to 4th or 6th and head NB on one of those. From N. WS, take the bridge to I-5 and get off at Dearborn and circle back.

    As Ken said, it’s a cluster****. Just took me 45 min to get in to work. Normally takes 7.

  • Andrea January 8, 2009 (7:47 am)

    Yep, it took me 45 minutes as well. What a mess! I hope the firefighter that got hurt is okay.

  • kurto January 8, 2009 (7:49 am)

    Thanks ScottA for your telling us about the the signage at Pacific Sheet Metal. I like to make a note of firsts with new technology.

    This was my first virtual walk down an actual street in my city to check out something a neighbor pointed out.

  • Raul January 8, 2009 (8:42 am)

    Does anybody know the name of that business?

  • Brian January 8, 2009 (9:12 am)

    I drove by the area on my way to work around 8:10 and the were still numerous fire trucks and police still on site directing traffic. The building was still smoldering but it looked like the flames were out.

  • Gina January 8, 2009 (9:24 am)

    Is this the building that has the rehersal and recording space in it?

  • JW January 8, 2009 (9:37 am)

    The business that burnt was Pacific Sheet Metal (one of our long time suppliers for custom metal products) – my husband called about 9:15 to tell me about it, the building is a total loss – hopefully they can rebuild/relocate the business and that any firefighters’ injuries are minor.

  • rlv January 8, 2009 (10:42 am)

    Gina, that was my thought too — I thought it was the Dutchman, which is the former metal works/ now band rehearsal space a friend owns.

    Thank you for the clarfication, JW. I’m so very sorry for the owners of this business, but am glad no one was there at the time. Here’s hoping the firefighter(s) hurt are better very soon!

  • Al January 8, 2009 (11:02 am)

    My bus, 54x, was trying to find 1st Ave this morning. The driver missed the lower bridge entrance, so we ended up travelling all the way down SW Marginal. Then the driver missed the entrance to 99/Viaduct and we ended up in the Tukwila area, close to Boeing. Eventually we made it back to 99 and to downtown. Seems to me that drivers should be aware of, and know how to access “alternate routes” if they are assigned by Metro to use them. Especially in West Seattle when there’s only ONE alternate route to know. I did write in to Metro about this (did not blame the driver in this case, it’s square on Metro’s shoulders IMHO).

  • JenV January 8, 2009 (12:13 pm)

    I just drove past there about an hour ago. It looks like the Dutchman is gone too.

  • WSB January 8, 2009 (12:28 pm)

    I have just posted a bit of an update.
    https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=13369
    Since citywide media is spending all its personpower on the megaflooding, they’re not likely to pay much attention to the followup on this fire (NWCN just did a tiny blurb that had only the fire department info from 3 am!), so we will. Going to go see if I can get anything resembling an aftermath photo – TR

  • WSB January 8, 2009 (12:30 pm)

    And having said that, I go to the mailbox and SOMEONE HAS JUST SENT AFTERMATH PHOTOS, God bless ’em. So anyway, keep watching the site for updates. City Light just sent an update on the related outage too, I’ll be adding that to the new story.

  • Vickie January 8, 2009 (12:50 pm)

    http://www.komonews.com/news/37266799.html

    The pictures in here seem to indicate the Dutchman was burned, too…

  • rlv January 8, 2009 (1:00 pm)

    This video shows the front face of the Dutchman intact, but it’s hard to say at what point in the fire’s progress the raw video was taken:

    http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=319669

  • JW January 8, 2009 (1:00 pm)

    Given the close proximity of the Dutchman to Pacific Sheet Metal (essentially the same warehouse) I wouldn’t be surprised. Hopefully all impacted can relocate/rebuild soon.

  • sa January 9, 2009 (6:17 pm)

    The recording studio (Calleye Music) run by Gary Mula was also pretty much destroyed. This is where Nirvana used to rehearse…..

    Gary’s cat is missing too, and likely did not survive the fire.

    More info on the Dutchman, or send in a donation, at http://thedutchmanfund.com/

  • R January 13, 2009 (9:22 pm)

    Please do check http://thedutchmanfund.com/. Gary is a truly amazing man who needs our support.

    Not to mention how many local bands The Dutchmen / Calleye has seen & supported over the years.

    Forward the link without hesitation!

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