White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Thanks to Gill for the photos and details on this van fire around 1 pm on the west side of 17th SW, south of 104th. He saw the smoke from a few blocks away and reports that King County Sheriff’s Deputies were on scene along with firefighters when he arrived. A gas can was found near the van but it’s not known whether it was involved with the fire or not; we’ll be checking with investigators.

UPDATE: KCSO’s Sgt. John Urquhart says it’s not a police investigation – just a fire incident.

Just got word of this. It’s open to the public. 10 am tomorrow (Thursday) morning, the North Highline Board of Fire Commissioners meets, with two items on the agenda: “New-hire firefighter,” and “chief administrative position.” The meeting’s at NHFD headquarters, 1243 SW 112th.

On the West Seattle/White Center border, the Seattle Fire Department‘s Joint Training Facility will host the “Fire Muster” for cadets and explorers this Saturday, 9 am-4 pm. According to this post on the city’s Fire Lines site, you’re invited to watch.

(Photos by Christopher Boffoli; added 11:07 am)
Just got a news release from the Seattle branch of the Red Cross saying it’s helping seven people whose home was gutted by fire this morning at 10044 20th Ave SW (map). We’re checking to see what more we can find out about this fire. 10 AM UPDATE: Photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is at the scene now for White Center Now and West Seattle Blog and tells us investigators are still there. They tell him it started just before 5 am. Everyone got out OK, no injuries. Christopher adds, “Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire but as of right now it appears the origin was the kitchen.”

Thanks to Wayne Del for sending word of a fire tonight in the 11000 block of Occidental (map), as well as photos of the smoke. He says it was in a “backyard – looks like it could have been a shed where gasoline was stored. Very combustible. Fire trucks on the scene, everyone appears to be safe. Helicopters, fire trucks, local citizens helping with garden hoses. Thank goodness for the community.” 8:45 PM UPDATE: We’re at the fire scene now – Occidental, a narrow residential street, is still blocked off with yellow tape, and fire crews are still here. This is in the Top Hat neighborhood. The incident commander tells us that the fire burned sheds and a carport, but the house itself wasn’t damaged. Nobody was hurt. Investigators are still on the scene, two hours after the fire was first reported, but they don’t know yet how it started. We’ll add our photos in a bit. ADDED: This is as close as we could get:

In case you saw the huge column of smoke to the west right around noontime – it was a fire that destroyed a home and two cars and badly burned a 34-year-old man in the Arbor Heights area of West Seattle (around 35th/108th). Here’s detailed coverage with photos at partner site West Seattle Blog.

Delridge is blocked from Thistle to Holden because of a fire in the 8100 block.

Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen has just told White Center Now that “improperly discarded smoking materials” were the cause of last night’s fire — ruled an accident — that damaged what Ricardo reports is a Muslim prayer hall (or “masjid” – see photo at bottom of this post) in the building on the alley immediately north of his building (home to Cafe Rozella and the Platinum salon). The fire started on/in a “vinyl couch,” she says – you’ll note the photos we took outside the building this morning include a badly burned couch.

Damage from the fire is estimated by SFD at $25,000.