Apartment Complex Fire, 66 Units Destroyed (Seattle, WA - September 1991) » Key Issues

Issues	Comments
Fire Origin	Careless use of candles by woman whose power was cut off.
Fire Spread	Use of combustible cedar siding, walkway ceilings, and 4-story decorative/security screen.
Fire Reporting	Estimated 15 minute delay before residents reported the fire. Delay a combination of non-reporting by woman who started it, attempts to fight fire, and assumption that others reported it.
Building Fire Protection	No sprinklers. Hand-pulled alarm worked but was largely not believed, no automatic alarm to fire department. Detectors worked but were a minor factor.
Staffing Levels	Three (versus four) person crew on first-in engine delayed start of water attack by eight minutes because of need to rescue a woman.
Losses	$3.9 million.
Casualties	No deaths, eight civilian injuries.
Escape	Many people were able to escape from walkways, windows and balconies. Fire Department rescued eight.
Multiple alarms	Fire was in extreme southeast corner of City, it took a considerable time to build up a large firefighting force.
Interagency Cooperation	Very good.
Incident Command System	Worked very well, but short of enough chiefs in early stages.

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