Update: September 30, 5:31 p.m.

Seattle Fire Department spokesperson, Kyle Moore, said that the flames were pouring out of the sides of the building by the time firefighters arrived at approximately 12:05 p.m.

“It was a defensive fire – we ended up fighting the fire from the outside and…because we realized it was extending flames in every direction we realized we needed more resources, so we called for a 2-11, which means a two alarm fire… We basically doubled our resources. “

Firefighters take a breather from fighting hot pockets in the charred remains of the building. Shane Harms

Approximately a dozen people were working on machinery when they notices flames. They tried to extinguish the fire with fire extinguishers, but were unsuccessful and evacuated.

The building was confirmed a complete loss. The official cause of the fire is undetermined, but Moore reported the damage is substantial.

Damages exceed millions of dollars. Shane Harms.

Moore reported that at the height of the fire there were over 100 fire fighters and over 30 fire apparatuses working to extinguish the conflagration.

“Because it was such an extensive fire we knew there was danger of the building walls collapsing, so we ended up forming what we call a collapse zone. We move all the fire apparatus, hose lines and firefighters away from the walls of the business, so the walls do not collapse on them (firefighter) and we continued to fight the fire from the outside.“

On top of evacuating the nearby business, SFD asked Seattle Public Utilities to shut off power to the whole block.

After the hour of fighting the fire the flames had subsided, but it took another hour and twenty minutes to thoroughly extinguish pockets of flare-ups. Even at 4:30 p.m. the Ballard News-Tribune observed heavy white smokes and small pockets of flames looming in the charred remains.

“We are keeping firefighters out here all night to make sure the fire doesn’t flare up. The big concern is environmental because this plant had hazardous materials inside.”

Moore said the runoff from water used to extinguish the fire flowed into a 7,000-gallon processing tank on the site. Seattle Public Utilities and the Department of Ecology are working on a plan to pump out over 5,000 gallons of runoff and transport it to be treated. The water is more acidic than bleach.

Moore advised the public to wash any material, especially shoes, that may have come in contact with the water flowing from the site.

City officials collecting acidic runoff. Shane Harms.

“We encourage people to wash off their shoes because the run off has the same acidity as household bleach, so if you went walking through your house you would start burning holes through your carpet. … We are having all the firefighters wash off all their gear and all of our hose lines as well.

How much of that water leaked into the Lake Washington Ship Canal has not been determined.

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Original story

From the 400 block of North 35th Street plumbs of black smoke were seen for miles after a fire started around 1 p.m. at ASKO Processing Inc., a metal-finishing company in Fremont.

Over 100 Seattle Firefighters fought the blaze for more than an hour while spectators watched. A Seattle Fire Department HazMat team responded to the scene because of the known toxic chemicals inside the building.

The fire has been extinguished but the area remains closed.

The building is deemed a total loss, while an adjacent building sustained some damage. Traffic was backed up for blocks and surrounding businesses were evacuated.

Crews remain on the scene watching for of smoldering rubble. There were no injuries reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.