Seattle Fire Engine 29 responding to a fire call on the 3800 block of Beach Dr. S.W. on April 2. The fire was caused by a car catching on fire inside a garage. The blaze did not spread to the attached apartment complex.
Update for April 9
The official details are in on a car fire that triggered an apartment complex sprinkler system on Monday, April 2.
According to Kyle Moore with Seattle Fire, the fire was caused by a battery malfunction in the vehicle. The content loss was $18,000 and structural damage was put at $1,000.
Here is the SFD recount of the incident:
On April 2, at 4:18 p.m. the Fire Alarm Center received an automatic fire alarm from the basement of a 3-story condo complex located on the 3800 of Beach Drive Southwest. Residents had evacuated the building upon hearing the fire alarm.
The first arriving engine company found a car on fire in the underground open-air garage. Fortunately, the buildings sprinkler system had activated and contained the fire to the one car. Firefighters from Engine Company 29 located the source of the fire under the hood and dash of the car and quickly extinguished it.
The fire sprinkler system was shut down and all of the residual water was pumped out by Ladder 11’s crew. Firefighters tested the air quality with their air monitors and found it to be safe. Residents were allowed back in the building.
The firefighters determined the cause of the fire to be an apparent electrical malfunction originating at the battery of the car. The estimated content loss was $18,000 and the estimated damage to the structure was $1,000.
No one was injured.
Original post on April 2
A car inside a garage caught on fire, and possibly exploded, around 4:19 p.m., April 2, at an apartment complex on the 3800 block of Beach Dr. S.W. The fire did not spread to the attached apartment complex.
As of 4:55 fire investigators are still trying to determine what caused the vehicle (a witness said it was a Mercedes) to ignite and confirm an explosion.
The fire was contained to the garage but caused the sprinkler system of the apartment complex near Andover Place to go off, resulting in numerous calls to 911.
A witness living in the apartment complex told the Herald he heard a loud explosion that shook the building, followed closely by the sprinkler system going off.
The SFD incident commander on scene said it should take 30 to 45 minutes to determine the cause.
In the meantime, north and southbound traffic is being diverted to S.W. Andover St. for at least the next half hour (as of 5 p.m.).
