By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Writer
EVERETT — City council president Frank Anderson may soon be Everett’s new mayor. But even before Anderson takes over, he’s already having a positive impact on people’s lives.
Even the lives of his adversaries.
"I give him hero status," Howie Bargreen said Monday.
Bargreen owns a Hewitt Avenue building that was saved from severe water damage Sunday when an alert Anderson discovered trouble and called 911. In last November’s election, Bargreen helped campaign for Mary Ehrlich, who opposed Anderson for his council seat.
"I think he’s off to a good start," Bargreen said. "He probably knew that was my building, and he still made the call."
Anderson, a retired firefighter, doesn’t agree about the hero status but gives credit to the firefighters. And, the councilman added with a chuckle, he likes Bargreen and would have helped him regardless of who he campaigned for.
Anderson, 62, said he wants to take over as mayor should current Mayor Ed Hansen accept the Snohomish County Public Utilities District’s offer to become its new general manager.
On Sunday, Anderson acted quickly just a few hours after arriving home from an East Coast conference. He and his wife were driving home after a Mother’s Day dinner when Anderson heard a distinctive ringing of a bell at Hewitt Avenue and Broadway.
"Being an old fire dog, you notice things someone else might not," Anderson said.
Anderson rolled down his car window and tried to follow the bell, which led him to the Old Monastery Woodworks at 2110 Hewitt Ave. Anderson saw water coming from the building and figured out a fire must have occurred causing the sprinklers to go off.
Bargreen, who has owned the building since 1932, said sprinklers were installed in 1979 when the building became a wood shop.
Knowing unchecked sprinklers can cause severe water damage to a building, Anderson called 911. He found out after firefighters arrived that the fire had set off three sprinklers.
It appears that Anderson made the 911 call the same time an Everett police officer called in the problem at about 8:20 p.m. This particular building has an outside alarm bell so when the inside sprinklers are set off, a small stream of water is diverted to the mechanical bell outside the building so passers-by can hear it, Fire Marshal Warren Burns said.
"The sprinkler system saved that business," Burns said.
Fire officials said the fire probably started with an electrical short from a refrigerator. No damage estimate was available.
You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097
or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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