The Seattle Fire Department has determined that a Nov. 29 apartment fire in West Seattle was caused by items placed close to an electric baseboard heater.
Fire crews were called to an apartment building in the 3800 block of Beach Drive Southwest for a report of an alarm going off inside the complex. Residents were evacuated and took shelter in a King County Metro bus while crews battled the fire, according to the fire department.
The first firefighters on the scene reported seeing flames shooting from a ground-floor unit. Fire crews struggled to put out the blaze because of winds that were driving the flames inside the building, said department spokesman Kyle Moore.
Two members of Engine Company 29 suffered minor burns in the blaze. They were both treated at Harborview Medical Center, Moore said.
It took firefighters about 45 minutes to extinguish the flames, Moore said. Several units in the building were damaged. Two women a dog were displaced.
The fire department estimates the damage to the building to be $150,000; $30,000 to the contents.