By David Rosen

Update for 2 p.m., July 31
The Seattle Fire Department said improperly disposed-of smoking materials were to blame for the a West Seattle apartment fire overnight that took the life of an elderly woman.

Here is SFD's full report:
July 31—A Seattle Fire Investigator ruled an early morning fatal apartment fire in West Seattle was accidental. The investigator determined the cause was improperly discarded smoking materials left burning inside the apartment.

At 2:13 a.m. the Fire Alarm Center received a 911 call reporting smoke coming from a second floor apartment in a building located in the 9000 block of 45th Avenue SW. Firefighters arrived to find flames visible in the second floor unit of a 19 unit complex. A resident reported the occupant was still inside the burning apartment.

Firefighters evacuated the complex and made a forcible entry into the apartment. Once inside they quickly extinguished the flames and found the deceased female occupant.

As standard procedure, the Seattle Police Department’s Arson Bomb Unit was called in to investigate the death. The King County Medical Examiner will determine cause of death. No other residents or firefighters suffered injuries.

Residents were allowed to reoccupy the complex. The fire investigator estimates $50,000 in damage to the unit and $15,000 in damage to the contents.

Original Post
The Seattle Fire Department quickly responded to an apartment fire in the 9000 block of 45th Ave SW around 2:13 am this morning. The fire was contained to only one unit and was quickly put out.

Kyle Moore, Public Information Officer, of the Seattle Fire Department talked with the West Seattle Herald. He said, " We got a call of flames and smoke coming from a second floor unit. When we arrived, there was smoke and a little bit of flames coming from the backside of this courtyard apartment building. Once we made entry, we knocked down the flames pretty quickly. We found an elderly female on the floor in the living room of her apartment who was deceased. According to neighbors, they woke up to the sound of crackling flames and the next door neighbor pounded on the door and there was no response from the female resident so they evacuated. At one point, we evacuated all 19 units of the complex but they have been let back in. The deceased female was 12 feet away from the front door in the living room and we believe primarily that that's where the fire occurred and the most extensive damage was contained but the fire investigator will do a much more extensive investigation. There were a lot of combustible materials piled up in the unit so it's going to take while to investigate and determine how the fire actually started. The landlord of the building said that there are working smoke detectors in every unit but the resident next door didn't hear any smoke detector going off."