After the fire

Last night, scores of firefighters from all over Seattle descended on N. 45th Street at Densmore to put out the blaze that ripped through the top floor of the bungalow behind Kitaro shortly after 6:00pm. Thankfully, there were no injuries from the fire. King 5 reports that an elderly woman lived in the house and was evacuated to safety. At this point, the cause of the fire and where it originated is unknown. (update 1:47pm, sources from Wallingford Family Dentistry next door say that the fire was caused by an electric blanket, according to reader Jessica; but today KOMO reported that fire investigators say an electrical outlet was the cause of the fire).

By 9:00pm, Molly Moon’s posted on their Facebook page that the shop wasn’t damaged and that they were open for business again. Dr. Falcone’s Wallingford Family Dentistry, however, wasn’t as fortunate. The dental office sustained damage on the west-facing side of its first and second floors.

Neighbors around Wallingford filled the streets, many snapping photos and providing updates through Twitter. Wallyhood reader Forrest told us us, “We saw flames going on to Molly Moon’s roof and the Dentist office, and a tree branch was on fire 20 feet off the ground.” He also added that he met the woman who originally called 9-1-1:

When I heard the sirens and the helicopters, I just ran up there and was talking to people, so I ran into this woman who called 9-1-1. She said she was walking down the street and a man asked if she had a phone and she saw smoke and asked if anyone called 9-1-1 and the man said no. So she called and then they went over to the restaurant. There were definitely people in the restaurant like the cook and the owner. They could hear the cook upstairs with the fire extinguisher. The 9-1-1 dispatcher tried to put her on hold and the woman saw more flames and explained that it was urgent.

This morning, passers-by peeked through windows of Kitaro and many stopped to gaze at the charred remains of the bungalow’s top floor. Construction crews and delivery of a dumpster came by around 10:30am. Workers removed an upstairs back door from Dr. Falcone’s practice, replacing it with plywood. Now the cleanup begins.

I’d like to thank everyone who helped us piece together the story by sending us tweets, emails, and some incredible photos from the fire. I’m also touched by the neighborhood’s generosity to help anyone who might need it. Truly, this is a prime example of our neighborhood coming together during a time of crisis and it makes me proud to live in such a great neighborhood.

I’ve added pictures of the damaged buildings from this morning to our Flikr page which you can see via the slideshow below or click here to view.