One person dies in fire at Seattle retirement home
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, July 30, 2006
SEATTLE – A fire in a 310-unit retirement home Sunday afternoon caused at least one death and sent eight people to the hospital, fire officials said.
The first crews to arrive at the Four Freedoms retirement home found flames and “lots of black smoke” coming from a sixth-floor unit, said Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick.
The person who died was a resident of that unit in the seven-story building, she said, adding that she had no additional information about the victim.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, Fitzpatrick said.
Some residents were on their balconies, and five were taken from the building on fire crews’ ladders, she said.
Chelan: Crews prepare to create fire barrier
Cooperative winds and a light rain helped slow a 7-square-mile fire near Lake Chelan on Sunday, as a specialized crew prepared to use explosives to create a barrier to protect the resort town of Stehekin.
“The winds are blowing, but they’re blowing in the right direction,” said fire information officer Margi Peterson. Sixty-two people were working the fire Sunday, she said.
The explosives crew was on the way Sunday afternoon and planned to lay explosives on a ridge between the Flick Creek fire and the tiny town at the northern tip of Lake Chelan, which is accessible by boat, horse, seaplane or foot, but not by car. The idea is to destroy trees and grasses that might otherwise fuel the fire, leaving a strip of soil, Peterson said. Smokejumpers were also working to dig a fire line.
Residents and visitors to Stehekin were warned to be ready to evacuate if necessary, and although 10 structures were under actual evacuation orders Sunday, no one had left, Peterson said. Instead, residents worked to protect their properties.
Meanwhile, crews and two helicopters also made progress Sunday against the 250-acre Bear Gulch Fire between Lake Cushman and the southwest face of Mount Rose in the Olympic National Forest.
In north-central Washington, cooler weather helped slow the spread of the Tripod fire, which covered about 29 square miles of forest land just northeast of Winthrop.
About 40 miles northeast of Entiat, the Tinpan fire had burned about 5 square miles of sub-alpine trees since it was started July 7 by lightning.
Carson: Forest Service finds missing plane
U.S. Forest Service employees have found human remains and the wreckage of a twin-engine plane that disappeared in January on a flight from Arizona to Tacoma.
At the time, cold weather and snow made a search for the plane impossible, said Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox.
The Cessna 421 was piloted by 42-year-old Martin Ayers of Scottsdale, Ariz., who made a distress call on Jan. 26 in bad weather at 15,000 feet near Soda Peaks Lake, north of Carson. He was alone in the aircraft.
Associated Press
