SEATTLE — The Seattle Fire Department says a leaking canister of butane gas caused a two-alarm fire Wednesday morning in Seattle.
Spokesman Kyle Moore says a man had the canister stored in his refrigerator. The fumes exploded when the refrigerator cycled on. The blast awakened the man who safely escaped along with more than 30 other residents of the four-story building in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Moore says six of about two-dozen units in the building are uninhabitable. The Red Cross is helping displaced residents.
Damage is estimated at $300,000.
Moore says the fire was called in to 911 at 5:35 a.m. Arriving firefighters saw a column of black smoke coming from a third-story apartment with flames spreading to units above and below.
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