Neighbors heartbroken after fire destroys cafe in Seattle’s Ballard area

VIDEO: A fire destroyed a neighborhood cafe in Seattle’s Ballard area Thursday morning. Several neighbors told KIRO 7 they heard a loud explosion before the fire. “You heard the boom; it sounded like a dumpster full of glass had gotten dumped,” said Aaron Quammem. The fire broke out just before 7:30 a.m. Quammem, who lives across the street, said several neighbors, including himself, jumped into action. “I come outside to that, and everyone else is kind of trying to pitch in, we’ve all got our little fire extinguishers,” said Quammem. Seattle Fire said crews were able to stop the flames from spreading to other businesses, but unfortunately, the market was severely damaged. Neighbors are heartbroken and said the cafe has been a staple in the community for years.
KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

One injured as crews respond to 3-alarm fire in Kent

A fire at Valley Self Storage in Kent is mostly out after more than 60 firefighters responded to the scene Thursday evening. One person was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, according to Puget Sound Fire. By around 6:40 p.m. crews were extinguishing hot spots. Fire crews were dispatched to the storage facility around 5:10 p.m., according to Puget Sound Fire Division Chief Pat Pawlak. When they arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from a storage unit. Additional firefighters were called to the scene as those already there treated one person for injuries and began attacking the fire. Crews limited the spread of the fire by strip cutting the roof, limiting the horizontal spread, according to Pawlak. Fire officials estimate roughly 30 storage units were impacted by the fire.
KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

Fire experts in Spokane County start new push for safety after devastating 2023 Gray wildfires

VIDEO: May is Wildfire Awareness Month, and wildfire experts across Spokane County hosted a fire preparedness event on Thursday in Medical Lake, the city where the devastating Gray Road Fire broke out in August of 2023. Wildfire experts from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Spokane County Fire Districts (SCFD) 3 and 10, and Spokane Valley Fire Department all gave presentations on preparing for wildfire season. Many presenters and officials told NonStop Local that the wildfire season in 2024 might be just as bad, or worse, than last year. "I would suspect that it's going to be similar to last year. It could be worse. County wide, there's a significant number of high-risk areas. Fire District 3 alone... south of Cheney, in the Aspen Meadows area... Another area of concern... kind of the Excelsior...Mullan Hill area off of Highway 95," Dustin Flock, Division Chief of Fire Prevention with SCFD 3, said.
NonStop Local

Lineage Warehouse Fire: Feds called in to help investigate cause of largest building fire in Tri-Cities history

PHOTOS: What may be the largest structure fire in Tri-Cities history is continuing to burn 10 days after it started, sending toxic smoke from burning plastic and other materials drifting over nearby homes. Fire officials still don’t know what sparked the destructive blaze at Lineage Logistics’ Kennewick cold storage warehouse, but Benton Fire District 1 has asked for help from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The fire district has no reason to suspect the cause of the fire was suspicious, but needs the additional resources of the federal agency to determine the cause, Jenna Kochenauer, the Benton County Fire District 1 public information officer, told the Herald on Wednesday. The mostly volunteer rural fire department has limited staff, and the federal agency has better equipment to get into the partially collapsed building that covers nearly 12 acres.
AOL.com

Wildfire contained south of Finley; road reopened

The wildfire south of Finley that started on May 1 and scorched about 45 acres is now contained. According to Benton County Fire District 1, no structures were damaged in the fire; however, firefighters will remain on scene throughout the day mopping up any hotspots. Finley Road southeast of Highway 397 is now reopened after being closed on the night of May 1 for the safety of firefighters.
Nonstop Local

Emergency declared amid Mercer Island water supply shortage

Fireworks will be prohibited this Fourth of July due to a water supply shortage caused by a previous water main leak. The prohibition declared by Eastside Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Ben Lane was announced May 1, the same day City Manager Jessi Bon signed a proclamation declaring a local emergency due to a reduction in the supply of incoming potable water. The City of Mercer Island contracts its fire services with Eastside Fire & Rescue. The emergency proclamation notes the backup water supply pipeline currently being used to provide potable water is 2.73 million gallons per day. The island's daily potable water demand during the summer averages 2.83 million gallons per day. That number spikes in July, when demand hits more than 3 million gallons per day, according to the proclamation.
KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle