Nobody was injured as a fire remained mainly on the outside of a building Tuesday morning at the Scenic Vista Senior Apartments, 26404 104th Ave. SE, on Kent’s East Hill.
Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority units were dispatched to check on a smoke alarm at the large senior living complex. The call was upgraded to a commercial fire response because of the size of the buildings. The first chief officer on scene saw smoke while approaching and quickly upgraded the call to a “working” fire. The upgrading triggered additional help and notified all those in route that a confirmed fire was found, according to a Puget Sound Fire news release.
A staff member called 911 after being alerted by a resident that there was a fire on the exterior of a ground floor apartment. Other staff members attempted to subdue the fire with several fire extinguishers that were on site. A manual fire alarm pull-station was triggered to warn the entire complex and evacuation of the building immediately proceeded. Several residents with mobility issues took shelter in a safe place until building staff or firefighters were able to assist them.
Although damage from the fire can be seen on the exterior wall stretching from the ground level past the third floor to the roof, fire did not make it very far into the structure. This is a building with sprinklers, including on the balconies, but no sprinkler heads were activated since the fire was mostly contained to the outside. Firefighters extinguished the fire within 30 minutes of the first dispatch. Not long after, the residents (all but one unit) were allowed back into their apartments.
One resident has been displaced by the fire but there was temporary housing available on site. There were no reported injuries or medical issues for either residents, staff members or fire personnel. Renton Regional Fire Authority, Valley Regional Fire Authority, King County Medic One, Zone 3 Rehab, Kent Police Department and utilities assisted Puget Sound Fire.
Fire investigators were not able to determine a cause. No damage estimate was available.
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