7:10 PM: We’re on our way to a Harbor SW condo building in the 1200 block (map), where first, according to the scanner, a fireplace fire was reported – then “some extension” was discovered, so the fire response was upgraded. More to come.

7:15 PM UPDATE: WSB contributor Katie Meyer says scanner traffic indicates the fire is “tapped”; we’re just arriving at the scene and the response is still a big one, with a ladder to the roof.

7:25 PM UPDATE: Traffic in the area is one lane, alternating directions, according to our crew at the scene.

7:57 PM UPDATE: Now traffic is open both ways. The fire is definitely out, not huge, no injuries (just confirmed this with SFD on scene); we’re still there in hopes of finding out what exactly happened.

8:35 PM UPDATE: SFD says this unit had the last wood-burning fireplace in the building, and something in the chimney, maybe buildup, caught fire. The unit had to be ventilated through a hole in the roof, so until that’s fixed, the unit residents won’t be able to go back inside.

(Added 4:53 am: Looking eastbound/downhill on SW Holden at the sizable initial response)
3:34 AM: Fire units are at an apartment complex in the 2200 block of SW Holden (map). Scanner indicates the fire is confined to a single unit in a 3-story building.

3:49 AM UPDATE: Both SW Holden and 22nd SW are blocked; our crew on the scene indicates that the fire is closer to 24th, in terms of a cross-street. No indication of any injuries; we had already heard on the scanner that everyone had gotten out of the building OK, and that the fire is “tapped.” Cameraphone photo added; that’s Ladder 13, out of Highland Park’s Station 11.

CLICK AHEAD FOR MORE OF OUR COVERAGE AS-IT-HAPPENED (including video of battalion chief briefing):Read More

We’ve received a couple notes asking about the big fire callout along the Admiral Way hill a few hours ago. It wasn’t much of a fire but since people are asking – Christopher Boffoli checked it out for WSB and reports that it was a “small bed fire, no injuries” – firefighters stayed around for a while ventilating the home (which was in the 3200 block of 31st SW, just east of Admiral Way).

In case the sirens woke you up: Scanner traffic indicates this fire call in the 2600 block of 47th SW (map) involves an electrical problem in an appliance, and crews have not so far detected “extension” into the house itself; part of the initial full response has been canceled. A medic crew is treating one person for what was described as a problem “not believed to be related to smoke inhalation.”

Firefighters were called to West Seattle High School today twice within the span of just a few hours. We went to the school to see what was happening, after getting tips from concerned neighbors/passersby – though the calls at 11:37 am and 2:17 pm were only on the 911 log as “automatic fire alarms.” At the school, principal Ruth Medsker confirmed to WSB that, as scanner traffic had indicated, both were trash-can fires – one led to a brief evacuation because of “plastic fumes.” Both the principal and Seattle Fire Department confirm there was no damage and no injuries, but SFD Lt. Sue Stangl says the fires are under investigation with “Seattle FIre, Seattle Police and school security working together.”

6:42 AM: A full house-fire response has gone to the 9000 block of 37th SW (map). But most of the units are being canceled after one crew discovered most of the smoke in the house was caused by a “smoldering couch,” according to scanner traffic.

6:49 AM: This is announced as a “tapped” (as in, more or less out) fire.

SATURDAY NIGHT NOTE: As discussed in comments, SFD was called back to this house tonight. We went over to check it out; it appeared to be something of a false alarm – what we could find out at the scene indicated someone smelled smoke again and called 911 just in case.

(Fire and police units blocking the north end of California at California Lane)
If you saw/heard the sizable Seattle Fire Department response in North Admiral: WSB’s Christopher Boffoli says firefighters have tapped a garage fire in the 1000 block of California Lane (west of Hamilton Viewpoint – here’s a map). California is closed at that spot – the far north end – right now, but firefighters indicate it may not be closed much longer.

It went out as “fire in building,” which means a big response for starters; then arriving crews determined it was a “food on stove” fire, and most units were canceled. However, one building resident tells us via Facebook that the sprinklers activated by the fire have caused some water woes, which means the trucks will be there for a while.

(MONDAY UPDATE: Contribution information added at story’s end)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

It’s hard, and heartwrenching, to imagine … two weeks till Christmas, you’ve done all your shopping, even gotten a tree – hadn’t even had a chance to decorate it yet – and suddenly, fire takes it all away.

E-mail this morning, and an emotional conversation this afternoon, brought new information on the aftermath of what was described as a “small fire” when we covered it early Friday on 49th SW just north of Admiral Way. Turns out, that “small fire” brought big losses to the West Seattle family who lives in the house – though of course mom Ronni Peterson is thankful to be alive, after escaping the early-morning fire with her dog Louie:

We met Louie and Ronni in the living room of her neighbor Karen Kinch, who e-mailed to ask if we’d help get the word out about what Ronni needs in the fire’s aftermath. Ronni didn’t want to be photographed, but talked at length about how she and Louie made it out, and how the presents she’d bought for her two teenagers (not home at the time) went up in smoke, as well as many other family belongings – some of which we photographed in the yard shortly after the fire:

Here’s that same view this afternoon:

It was 3 am Friday when Ronni awakened to “weird, loud popping sounds” that she thought might have been someone trying to break in. She opened her bedroom door – and the smoke rushed in. After slamming the door shut, Ronni realized she and Louie had only one viable escape route – the window in this photo:

Below the window, at the bottom of concrete steps to the basement door, is a roll of old carpeting. That’s where Louie landed when Ronni threw him out the window to safety. He’s 7 years old; she is sure the carpeting saved him from death or serious injury. She managed to get from the window to the side yard without falling down there too. As she ran over and banged on Karen’s door, she heard the massive fire response (you can see the 14-unit callout at 3:09 am on this archived 911 log) – and then saw Louie in danger of running across Admiral.

She rescued him. Firefighters got the flames out fast. But not before the smoke and water trashed the interior of the front of the house:

According to Ronni, the fireplace was to blame for sparking the fire – embers from a fire she’d had going earlier in the evening. As she noted in a comment on WSB last night, she is a renter, but didn’t have insurance. She’s staying with relatives, after spending that first night at Karen’s house. Her kids are with family and friends – 15-year-old Emily, a tenth grade at The Center School, and 13-year-old Evan, a seventh grader at Madison Middle School.

Instead of dealing with the aftermath of a fire, she was supposed to be spending today helping with fundraising for Emily’s upcoming school trip to Costa Rica. Ronni had obtained $700 in See’s Candy for her family and others to sell as a fundraiser – and all that candy was in the house, along with Christmas presents she’d bought early — Black Friday sale items, now just plain blackened, along with so many things, even little Christmas decorations:

Asked what she needs, Ronni says for starters, a storage unit where she can keep the belongings that are salvageable from the house – items she could take out of it right now if she had somewhere to put them. Then she needs to find a new place to rent, no more than $1,200, which she was paying at the now-too-damaged-to-inhabit house by 49th and Admiral. She needs to stay in West Seattle, she says, because she and her former husband share child custody, and he’s just about a mile away from where she’s been living.

After that, she says, she’ll probably need furniture. And while presents she’d bought for her teenagers “can’t be replaced,” she’s not even ready to think about that yet – she just has to get the basics handled.

If you can help, please e-mail her at ronnip66@gmail.com. Karen will be looking into a PayPal and/or regular bank account to set up a fund, but for starters, the storage and rental help would be big.

MONDAY UPDATE: Here’s information for bank and PayPal funds set up for Ronni and her family: At any Wells Fargo, you can designate a contribution for the Ronni Peterson Fire Relief Fund. Or via PayPal, you can send money to ronnip66@gmail.com.

In case you heard the sirens overnight, just after 3 am: What firefighters describe as a small fire at a house in the 2600 block of 49th SW (map) was put out quickly, but crews are still on the scene, cleaning up. They tell us the person home when it broke out got out OK; there’s some smoke damage and debris (like the pile you see in the foreground of our photo). They believe it was accidental.

Though the fire response in the 3200 block of 41st SW (map) wasn’t described as major when we checked it out about two hours ago (mentioned briefly in our morning snow coverage), the Seattle Red Cross now says it’s helping the residents, “providing assistance to six people which could include shelter, food, clothing and other immediate needs.” Meantime, SFD’s report isn’t final so we don’t have an official cause – WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen went by the scene a while after we were there and was told it was in the attic; original call, per SFD’s Helen Fitzpatrick, was “wall fire.”

(Photo courtesy David Rosen of SlickPix Photography)
As noted here last night, the Seattle Fire Department is burning down an Admiral District house bit by bit this week to help train new firefighters. We’re publishing this reminder because not everybody got the message (we just received a note from someone who thought it was a “real” fire incident). SFD has said it’ll set more than a dozen fires in the house at 2206 California SW (map) before the week’s over.

(Scroll down for newest information – investigators have figured out how the fire started)

(Video substituted at 12:14 pm for previously published photo)
ORIGINAL 11:12 AM REPORT: On our way to check out the house-fire call (7900 block of 17th SW – map). 11:23 AM UPDATE: We are at the scene, significant fire, front of house charred, smoke still coming out. No word yet if anyone is hurt. 11:34 AM UPDATE: Incident commander tells us everyone got out OK but a few firefighters are being checked out for possible minor injuries. It’s easy to see inside the front of the house from the street, and it appears gutted. It’ll be a while before investigators can say how it started. 12:16 PM NOTE: In comments, Mookie mentioned “decon” for firefighters on scene. Here’s what that consisted of:

We’ll update whenever the information’s available about the fire’s cause. 1:29 PM UPDATE: SFD confirms via Twitter that two firefighters had to be treated for “minor injuries.” 2:51 PM UPDATE: Update from SFD: The fire was accidental, started when someone tried to get a fire going in the fireplace and nearby “combustible materials” caught fire in the process. The house is considered “pretty much a total loss,” according to SFD’s Helen Fitzpatrick, with damage to home and contents estimated at $150,000. She also explains that the two firefighters who were hurt suffered ankle injuries from stepping out the back door into a “short drop” that had no stairs. 12:29 AM SUNDAY: Firefighters went back late Saturday night for a flare-up. It appeared to be out by the time we got there, with most of the dispatched trucks having been sent back.