West Seattle, Washington
20 Thursday
(Dec. 3 photo along Longfellow Creek was taken by Tim, originally featured here.)
For those of us who made it through the December 3 Deluge without much if any damage, it’s just a soggy memory (albeit one reopened easily by new rounds of rain like the one we’re having right now). But some people in areas including right here in West Seattle are still working to clean up and fix up, like Gary in North Delridge, who e-mailed WSB to ask us to share with you that individual property owners in King County are now able to apply for federal assistance (governor’s press release is here — instructions on how to apply are here).
Over the weekend, we mentioned the fire that swept through this house early Saturday. Tonight, we have a followup e-mailed by Ricardo Guarnero, proprietor of nearby Cafe Rozella:
Wanted to let you know of an unsung hero in the fire that gutted the house at 9415 Delridge. Six people were sleeping upstairs where neighbor Paul saw a bright light from his window next to the house. He looked out and saw flames bursting out of the lower window. Paul immediately started yelling to wake up the inhabitants. He then ran out and saw a truck with a ladder. Wasting no time, he propped it against the house and helped out all six residents. Had it not been for his timely actions all could have perished. Paul is the owner/mechanic of 944 West, a high-end German automobile repair shop.
Thanks to Ricardo for sharing that. (Also thanks to Trina for posting a comment with similar info, below the original post.) Whatever you see/hear/find out about in your neighborhood, e-mail WSB with info (photos and video welcome too), any time.
The exterior appears intact but the charring over the broken-out windows suggests this house was gutted by the overnight fire there. It’s 9415 Delridge (map), on the north edge of the Delridge/Roxbury business district, at a location identified in county records and online searches as home to B & J Plumbing (we have left voicemail for that business to check on this); 911 logs show the fire callout was at 1:50 am. There’s no official Fire Department press release on this, so here’s hoping that means nobody was seriously hurt.
A new development three weeks after we first wrote about Nucor‘s application for permits to upgrade a crane. When we first heard about it, thanks to an eagle-eyed WSB reader, time for public comment was already running out, and a note on the public posting said a hearing would be scheduled only if there was “significant public interest.” Looks like somebody subsequently expressed that level of interest; Trissa just e-mailed WSB (thank you!) with word that a public hearing is now set for January 9 @ Alki Community Center (more details here), plus a note that the time for public comment has been extended to January 14 (more on that here). We’ll add both dates shortly to our ever-growing West Seattle-wide Events page.
Quick reminder that the county Public Health Department‘s free flu-shot clinic in West Seattle is happening today: 10 am-2 pm, Delridge Community Center.
(photo by Lea Kuchan) In case you don’t go back to comments on day-old posts – we wanted to highlight this comment just left on our followup about the now-famous car swamped in the Allstar Fitness parking lot during Monday’s megadownpour:
I am the somewhat sad and soon to be past owner of this car. It is indeed being totaled by my insurance – they say that they are liable if they fix it and something happens. Happily, I am aware of the folks who get ripped off by having totaled cars get reconditioned and sold. I have arranged for it to be towed to a salvage yard, and scrapped out for body parts. The bad karma will end with me.
Thanks for your support, though. I feel privileged to have such supportive neighbors.
Best,
E
Remember this much-photographed car, under water yesterday outside Allstar Fitness? (photo by Lea Kuchan)
We found it again today. Our camera-equipped team member reports (shock) it’s full of mud. But all in one piece!
Yet more photos coming in from Longfellow Creek, Allstar Fitness, and environs; we don’t want to add them atop the commute info, since that’s the most important stuff for a while longer, so we’ll be adding them one by one here; keep scrolling down to check. First, from Tim — along the creek, near SW Genesee, close to the 13th hole of West Seattle Golf Course:
From Kathy, another look at Allstar Fitness, awash in floodwater (let us know if you hear whether it plans to reopen tomorrow; we’ll check in the morning too):
Chris M also sent us this link to some good shots in his Flickr gallery.
ADDED 2:25 PM: “The creek has burst free!” reports Kristin, who took these photos on Juneau between Delridge and 26th, and says 26th is closed.
2:12 PM: Mike actually captured the fabled “car swamped to its roof” we heard about in the lot at Allstar Fitness (2:38 PM UPDATE: reader reports, it IS closed because of the flooding) – that’s the car in the background:
Thanks again to everyone who’s sending WSB info and pix to share. ADDED 3:50 PM: Yet another picture of the now-iconic flooded car at Allstar, this time from Lea Kuchan:
Traffic reports say you can’t get to The Bridge from Delridge because of deep water that even has a car stuck in it. Also, WSB reader “K†warns everyone to check their basements — after waking up to flooding woes. 6:43 AM UPDATE: Also, if you use the The Viaduct, alternates might be a good idea because the Battery Street Tunnel is reported to be closed. There is one slight bit of good news – the National Weather Service says the strongest winds today will be “mainly north of Seattle” — so looks like we are “only” going to have to deal with the rain. 7:13 AM UPDATE: It’s likely slow going no matter where you are coming from — part of our team is trying to make it to The Bridge on Fauntleroy and reporting a delay that starts around Graham — because of very deep water, with city crews on the scene. Going to try to divert to 35th; will let you know if trouble ensues there. 7:30 AM UPDATE: Gave up on the 35th idea, still slogging along Fauntleroy past ex-Gee/ex-Huling — here’s the city cam:
7:45 AM UPDATE: Longfellow Creek is “as high as we have ever seen it,” says one nearby resident. Radio traffic report says cars are backed up on Admiral trying to get to The Bridge, too. 7:55 AM UPDATE: Our team member made it to The Bridge and says the left lane is closed, eastbound, roughly parallel with where you exit for Admiral on the other side – looks like a stalled car, tow truck getting in place, traffic moving OK eastbound once you get past it. 8:05 AM UPDATE: Just in from a reader: “West Marginal Way is closed about half way between the bridge and 509 (and there are several very deep very wide puddles even before the closure). This closure hasn’t made the traffic reports yet as far as I can tell. I found this out the hard way this morning.” 8:35 AM UPDATE: Natashia just e-mailed, “Both lanes of northbound 35th are backed up to one road before Morgan. I turned around to head back home, and had to miss turning left onto my road because southbound lanes were traveling tight & aggressive. Be careful out there — and be nice!! :)” (Here’s the traffic cam for 35th, NB cars coming toward the camera) 9:05 AM UPDATE: We’re heading out to check on flooded spots. If you need to drive somewhere, this is one of the best updated lists of “incidents” that we’ve seen.
Just out of the inbox, from Stephanie (who lives slightly north of the Home Depot area of Delridge, for your frame of reference):
I was hoping you could post this as a warning to all those living on Delridge. I woke up this morning to my neighbor telling me her car and another neighbor’s car were broken into last night. The criminals broke the windows to get into the cars. It must have taken place early this AM since I came home late last night and saw nothing wrong with their cars. This is really upsetting that people would stoop this low to break into cars. So I guess all we can do is make sure our cars are locked, nothing is left in the car, and we watch out for one another.
Two weeks ago, we brought you a WSB reader’s report that the office staff at West Ridge Park on Delridge told her the condo conversion to “Gables,” by the same people who brought you “Strata,” was slowing down. Then one week ago, we noted that the Mosaic Homes website no longer listed “Gables” as “coming soon.” Mosaic still to this date hasn’t returned our messages, but another West Ridge resident just e-mailed WSB to tell us this notice landed on the doorstep this morning:
“We are pleased to announce that the owners of West Ridge Park have decided to not go forward with the planned condo conversion at this time. The property as a whole will remain a rental property … We sincerely want to thank each and every one of you for your patience and understanding during these past months of change and uncertainty. We hope this announcement will please all of you. I know you are very excited that we are staying as a rental community, and hope each of you will stay with us in 2008.”
This was to be a huge condo conversion and got a lot of citywide coverage earlier this year, as harbinger of a trend — can’t help wondering if it might become the same thing now, in the opposite direction.
From the inbox (thanks to “AA”):
Looks like either a glass truck lost its load, or someone t-boned it. There is glass ALL over the intersection and the police have a big blockade around it and a traffic arrow. The backup was almost a half-mile down Delridge when driving North to South. There is no backup driving South to North. Sylvan is blocked west of Delridge. The glass truck is parked in the Arco parking lot and there are people milling about. Worth letting people know if they can take an alternate route to the South Delridge area, it’s probably a good idea.
WSB reader Julia called this to our attention. We have not been able to do a lot of research on it but wanted to let you know about it before it’s too late, in case you are interested in having a say: Nucor Steel is upgrading one of its cranes, to boost production, and because that could increase emissions of carbon monoxide and a variety of other components (details in this notice), Nucor has to get permits from the state Ecology Department and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. Both are recommending approval; the deadline for public comment is tomorrow (the notice was apparently posted almost a month ago; as a result of this, we’ve learned about a new place to check for important public notices!), although it appears from the second part of a posting on this site that one piece of the project is open for comment until 12/12. Both these notices say a public hearing will be held only if there is “significant public interest” — contacts to express said interest can be found on the links.
New low-low-low-price West Seattle real-estate listing: 4801 23rd Ave SW 
(map shows that’s a couple blocks off Delridge), 7 bedrooms/4 baths, described as “a serious fixer that needs a lot of work, not for the faint of heart,” $175,000. The listing agent’s page doesn’t have photos, but you can find them on search pages like this from other agents’ sites (from which we have pulled the photo @ left). County property records show its owner bought it for more than twice that two years ago. Googling the address shows an appliance-repair business there at some point, but nothing more nefarious, aside from a city stop-work order on some remodeling/rebuilding there earlier this year. Hmm.
Thanks to several people who e-mailed WSB to let us know about a car hitting a pole on Delridge — right by the famous flag — here’s the first photo, from Pete:
ADDED 10:15 AM: Another angle, from David:
Earlier “eyewitness account” removed – Steph notes, different accident. Sorry.
Not sure if this is the first time the Seattle City Council has gathered on Delridge — but it’s probably the loudest time. Members were at Delridge and Myrtle to officially unveil the Pedestrian Safety Initiative (details here; we’re checking for West Seattle specifics) that’s part of the $900 million-plus city budget proposal. Here’s our first video clip (1 more to come) from the start of the event this morning; local kids appear nearby, about a minute in:
Second clip features a local neighborhood activist hoping to get her voice heard:Read More
Peter McKay tells the frightening story on his blog. His account doesn’t mention West Seattle or the shooting location, nor was there a 911 call about an assault with weapons (apparently medics were called to his home), so this didn’t hit our radar till the P-I just posted about it, saying it happened on Delridge near Barton this past Thursday night.
Big Fire Department contingent at 23rd north of Willow (just west of Delridge) because of a house fire. 9:50 AM UPDATE: Most of the fire crews are leaving now, but the house appears to be a total loss. 11:25 AM UPDATE: Brief P-I blurb says 7 people lived in the house and all got out OK.
UPDATE: As of 1pm there was still a fire crew on the scene. Here’s two pictures that were taken just half an hour ago.
Relief for Delridge residents — the burned-out car that had been sitting in front of a house across from Delridge’s northernmost Shell station is gone.
We took that photo over the weekend after a reader e-mailed us about the car; Mike Dady from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council told us action was under way to get it out of there, and that the person whose home it happened in front of, a longtime resident, was chagrined to have had this sort of thing happen outside his home. Mike reported it to SPD on Saturday after their Adopt-A-Street neighborhood cleanup (just too big to have picked this up and stuffed it in one of those yellow bags, unfortunately) and reminds us all that there’s an online form for reporting abandoned vehicles, especially helpful now that city codes allow for faster removal of junk vehicles (more here). Mike says Community Police Team Officer Brian Ballew (honored by the Seattle Neighborhood Group last week with a Community Builder Award — congrats) had this on his to-do list; looks like things moved fast. By the way, this gives us an excuse to mention one loose end from last week’s West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting — what to do about neighborhood nuisances. SNGi has tons of resources, including this “Take Action” brochure. (Here are other ways they can help you learn what you’re empowered to do to make your neighborhood better.)
Along Delridge, the North Delridge Adopt-A-Street volunteers have been busy this midday — we saw groups mostly in twos and threes, with bright yellow bags, taking the time to make their neighborhood a better place.
On the Alki promenade, the Evergreen State Barbecue Championship participants spent the morning setting up. This photo shows the stack of wood one team brought along. The barbecuers say they will be cooking all night, judging tomorrow; apparently one vendor will be selling food tomorrow, but the others are just there to compete (different health regulations, too). The video clip after the photo is a short walking tour going past about a third of the booths.
In The Junction, construction/excavation crews have taken down most of the graffiti-laden retaining wall at the back of the ex-Hollywood Video/future QFC-Office Depot-apartments megaproject on Alaska:
One other note if you will be out and about — the last leg of Erskine, going southwest from The Junction, is blocked off at the five-cornered intersection (7-11, Uptown, etc.), because of road work just to the west.
Often, readers tell us WSB has helped them learn something they didn’t know about our community, what’s happening around WS, or the services available. We have to say, it’s been educational for us too. Only after 15 years in WS are we beginning to learn about the full scope of what’s out there. The West Seattle Community Safety Partnership is one of many groups that just weren’t on our radar, for whatever reason. But it should have been on ours, and allow us to be so bold as to say it should be on yours. Long ago, the WSCSP was known as the “anti-crime council” — but its scope goes beyond crime. 
As demonstrated at Tuesday night’s meeting, the group is there to gather and share information about how to pro-actively protect yourself and your family and improve your neighborhood. Its officers are volunteers, but the group is assisted by a regular allotment of time provided by the Seattle Neighborhood Group for one of its staffers, Lois Grammon-Simpson (SNGi photo of Lois at right), who lives in WS. The room all but gasped Tuesday night when Lois revealed that SNG might stop providing the group with her services, as has already happened for a similar group in Southeast Seattle. But it’s not too late to change the course …Read More
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